Of Petals and Thorns
by Sensible One
Summary: Moving is never good; moving into a town you hate from the very start is even worse. But then Rose wanders into the Garden and the negative emotions begin to gradually fade away, bringing out the good part of the girl. EdwardOC
1. Fairytale Garden

**Chapter One: Fairytale Garden  
**

Rose Wheeler stared blankly at the small house before her. A simple brick house, with pastel-colored curtains in the windows and typical white entrance door. The garden around it was big and seemed a little unkempt, seeing as the previous owners left the house a couple years ago and no one really cared about it. The house matched perfectly with other buildings in the cul-de-sac. Rose hated it. She despised the house, the neighborhood and everything about the place from the very start. And she could bet anything she won't like the people. She could feel a migraine coming.

"Oh, isn't it lovely?" Mrs. Wheeler, or Amanda as her older children liked to call her, gushed. "I've always dreamt of living in a house like this one! It looks like the one I've grown up in!"

"Wow, must be old, this house," Trevor, the oldest of siblings, said, which earned him a slap on the arm.

"I just can't wait to settle in," Mr. Wheeler said jovially, then noticed the dark look on his only daughters' face "What's wrong, Ro'?"

"Dad, I don't even know where to begin," Rose replied and, with a sigh, followed her mother and two brothers into the house. She immediately headed towards the stairs and climbed up all the way to the top. On the top floor there were only one doors and Rose guessed it must be an attic. She peeked inside, eyed the empty room with a critical eye and returned to the car to get her things.

"I'm taking the attic!" she called out loudly, so that her brothers would hear. Trevor didn't reply, since he was too busy unpacking in his new room, directly under the attic – or Rose's room. Denis, the youngest, waved at her from the kitchen.

Putting out the furniture and other personal belongings took them all day, but eventually, the Wheeler family finally settled in their new house. But before Rose could throw herself on the bed, her mother called everyone for a late supper.

"So kids, how do you like the house so far?" Mr. Wheeler asked as they all sat down.

"It's so cool, I like it, so big and spacious, and painted in nice colors too, and I finally have my own room and I don't have to share with Rose!" Denis gushed while stuffing his face with food "I was getting irritated by all her girly stuff in my room! And the closet was full with _her_ clothes! And she always staid up late and I couldn't sleep because of the music she's been listening to-"

"Hey! I've had headphones on!" Rose defended herself.

"Well, that didn't really worked since I still could hear it!"

"Okay guys, stop arguing this instant," Mr. Wheeler, or simply James, said, making the two go quiet. "What about you, Trevor?"

"Oh, I _so_ love it," the 19-year-old rolled his eyes, sarcasm dripping off his voice "Everything is so colorful and so _plastic_!"

"Now, now, you don't need to be sarcastic, Trevor!" Amanda cut in "I personally think this house is terrific."

"I think so too, darling," James agreed "It's certainly bigger than our previous house and that's all that matters. It's comfortable, and has enough space for the three of you."

"I can't imagine having a party in here, though," Trevor uttered, looking around "Definitely would blow the house away."

"I assure you that no parties will take place in this house, young man," Amanda said warningly.

"See, now you'll have to sneak out to go partying somewhere else," Rose grinned at her brother.

"Yeah. Good thing my room's not too high from the ground," Trevor joked, making Mrs. Wheeler glare at him.

"No sneaking out!"

"Okay, I'm done," Rose announced, getting up from the table and putting her plate into the sink "I'm gonna crash. Good night," she saluted playfully and went upstairs.

* * *

It was day three since the Wheeler's moved to their new house. Rose was walking home from school, lost in thoughts. She was near her destination when she spotted a big mansion on top of a hill, not too far away from her neighborhood. She stared. It looked kind of dark, dangerous, and really scary. Almost like from a horror movie or something. Rose tilted her head; she could remember someone at school mentioning a haunted mansion, where no one had gone, ever since a tragic accident had taken place many, many years ago. To her it sounded stupid, but she thought it would be cool to go there, just for the sake of spending some time in a building everyone else was afraid of. The secret feeling of superiority over the rest townspeople was tempting.

A hand landed on her shoulder and Rose jumped up, startled.

"Whoah, relax, I just…" the voice was male, and somewhat familiar "Rose?"

"Huh?" she turned around and saw a boy, a little taller than herself, with messy golden hair and sparkling green eyes. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Are you kidding, it's me!" the boy looked both expectant and excited.

"Uh…" then it clicked "Jason? Oh my God, Jason!" Rose grinned excitedly. "What are you doing here?"

"_Hello_, Ro', I've been living here for 3 years now," Jason laughed.

"Oh." Rose knew Jason since she was 10. His parents moved a lot, due to their jobs, so Jason never had many friends. One day he's been sitting all alone on a playground, occupying one of the swings, when a girl came up to him, sat down on the other available swing and demanded he'd push her higher and higher. Jason had never met anyone as annoying as her. But somehow they became friends, then were best friends, and he never could explain how did that happen.

"Well, now I will be joining you."

"When did you get here?" Jason asked as they began to head towards her house.

"Three days ago," Rose shrugged "To be honest, I don't like it here,"

"Oh, you'll get used to it in no time." Jason smiled reassuringly.

While walking, they exchanged addresses and phone numbers. After a few minutes of chat, the two appeared in front of Rose's house.

"Well, here we are," she stopped to hug him goodbye "It's really good to see you again, Jas, but I have to go. See ya!"

And she left him, making her way to the front door. She turned one last time to wave at him, and then disappeared into the house.

* * *

The mansion looked even more scary at night and Rose had to think over the reason why she'd come here. Of course, it was partially because she wanted to get out of the house, before her mother would tell her to tidy up the place. Then, she had to skip supper, because Rose absolutely hated broccoli, as opposed to the rest of the family. A stupid reason, Rose knew that, but she desperately needed to find more before entering the scary mansion. She was curious; and since she was no cat, she decided it'll be okay to check out the haunted building. And lastly, she wanted to prove herself that the people – she refused to call them 'neighbors' even in her own mind - who spread the frightening legend of a killer living here are completely and utterly dumb.

Taking a deep breath, Rose pushed the metal gate and walked in.

The first thing she noticed while being on the property, was the garden. Rose had seen many gardens in her 17-year-old life, but none of them was nearly as beautiful as the one she's been looking at at the moment. Large sculptures made from shrubbery were surrounding her, showing many different things, angels, dancing girls, animals, everything made of shrubs. And in the middle of all that was a large green hand, reaching out towards the sky. Rose felt her mouth going wide open. _'Who could have done such beautiful things?'_ she asked herself in amazement _'I thought the mansion's been abandoned!'_

The breathtaking sight before her made her want to sit down and stare at the sculptures for the rest of the night. Deciding against that, Rose began to wander around, gazing at the green statues from every side, admiring the shapes with her mouth partially open.

Wondering if it was only a strange dream – and secretly hoping it's not – Rose breathed in as much air as possible and began slowly twirling around, feeling the slight wind whirl around her frame and pick up her hair.

Her eyes still wide open, she was taking in every sight around her, drinking in the shapes and moving around the fairytale-like garden, humming a slow tune under her breath. Rose was lost among the green statues.

_Snip._

_Snip._

_Snip._

The fluid motion stopped abruptly as Rose bolted and tumbled backwards, her foot catching on a small rock which in turn caused her to fall down straight on her butt.

"Ow," she couldn't help but wince, then she remembered the strange interruption. It was an odd sound, and it was possible that it was nothing but the wind or something as harmless. But Rose was sure she'd heard something.

_Snip. _

_Snip._

_Snip._

The girl bolted again, her eyes trying to make out the source of the sound in the dark. All she could see were the shadows of the shrub sculptures. As beautiful as she'd thought they were the first time she'd seen them, now she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable, frightened even, by the many shapes that were surrounding her.

Then it hit her – this place was supposed to be abandoned. Yet, all the sculptures she'd been admiring just a few moments before had to be made by someone! And that someone had just caught her on their property. All is good until you get caught, Trevor liked to say. And Rose liked that saying, too. But she just _had_ been caught. And it was definitely not a good thing.

Making up her mind in less than a second, Rose stood up and ran towards the gate, looking out for the person that caught her red-handed. She couldn't see more than dark shadows circling around her, but she managed to surpass a panic attack and instead focused on getting the hell out of the garden. In a matter of a couple seconds, she reached the main gate and slipped through, taking course towards her house and not looking back.

If she would, she'd see a lone figure standing near one of the sculptures, long metallic fingers gleaming in the faint light of the moon, black eyes gazing at her retreating figure.

* * *

_**A**__**:**_ _Boring, huh? xD Well, it's just the beginning, I had to introduce the characters and the situation. I dare think the next one will be more interesting, however I make no promises. This story came literally out of nowhere, so it will develop itself in its' own time._

_Thank you for reading! Now, how about leaving a Review? :)_


	2. The Garden's Keeper

_Because of the never ending – and still constantly growing – pile of homework, I am able to write on weekends only. So, it may take some time to get the chapters out, and I apologize, but there's really nothing I can do about it._

_Thank you, _Jen_, _Hiei's-Dark-Little-Phoenix_,_ linalove _and _Animelover1002_ for Reviewing! It was so very nice to hear from you all :) I hope you will enjoy the next part!_

* * *

******Chapter Two:**** The Garden's Keeper**

Regret was the first thing Rose felt after waking up. Groaning, she rubbed her hand against her face and thought back to the day before. The garden was so beautiful and mesmerizing, with all the green sculptures around and an almost magical aura, was definitely one of the most amazing things Rose had ever seen. The atmosphere shattered like a soap bubble, and for what reason? A _sound_. A mere sound, that could easily be her imagination. Rose had let herself panic and flee like a scared cat, and it wasn't something she was proud of, now that she thought it over.

"Rose, honey! Breakfast is ready!"

A groan escaped her lips. Thank goodness she managed to slip into the house unnoticed by anyone. If she'd get caught sneaking in, the consequences would be painful, no matter who'd catch her; the parents would most likely ground her, Denis, being the loving brother that he is, would most likely tell their parents right away, and Trevor, being even more loving and understanding, would demand a fine pay for his silence. _'I have the most lovely family ever,'_ Rose thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

"Rose! Get up or you'll miss school!"

"Geez, now _that's_ a temptation," sarcasm dripped off every word, yet the girl gathered the strength and got up from bed. After the whole morning routine, she came downstairs to discover her mother and younger brother in the kitchen. Mr. Wheeler was seated in the living room, scanning through the morning paper, and Trevor was ready to leave.

"My, aren't you eager to show up in school, huh, bro," Rose grinned at him and he smirked back.

"Some of us have to work hard to obtain a reputation, my dearest sister."

"I know very well what kind of _reputation_ you have in mind, Trev," Rose took her seat next to Denis, who was busy finishing his cornflakes "Good luck obtaining anything with the nun-girls this little town is full of."

"Now Rose, this is just a stereotype," Mrs. Wheeler pointed out "Girls and boys are all the same, no matter whether they live in a big city or a little town." She paused for a moment "Wait, what kind of 'reputation' are you two speaking of?"

Trevor and Rose laughed at this. "Nothing you should worry about, mom," the young man made his way to the door and threw them a grin through his shoulder "Be back around dinner time!"

"Trevor, wait!"

The door closed behind him, though his laughter was clearly audible. Rose snickered into her bowl of cornflakes. Their mother could be so innocent and naïve at times.

"Trev's just a horn dog, nothing new here. Oh, that reminds me," she began before Mrs. Wheeler could push the subject further "I saw Jason yesterday."

"Jason?" Amanda's eyes sparkled with interest "Jason Carter?"

"Yeah, the very same." Rose shrugged "Didn't know he lived here, and it turned out he's been here for three years now."

"Oh dear, that's wonderful!" Amanda clasped her hands together "Next time you see him, be sure to invite him and his family over to dinner!"

"Uh-huh," Rose finished eating and played with the spoon absently.

"Mom?" Denis looked up suddenly.

"Yes, dear?"

"What's a 'horn dog'?"

The look on Mrs. Wheeler's face was priceless. Rose's laughter echoed in the kitchen, successfully overcoming Mr. Wheeler's silent chuckle.

* * *

School was as boring as ever and Rose couldn't wait for it to end. She was very happy that it was Friday already, and that meant that two full days of doing nothing await her. The final bell rang and Rose gathered her things, wanting to get out of the building as soon as possible. Not stopped by anyone, since she still hadn't made any friends, Rose exited the school and headed towards her house. She made a mental note to save one day and go exploring around the town, but she hadn't been feeling up to it lately.

Walking for over 15 minutes, Rose had time to think about everything that came to her mind. First, the new surroundings. She still hated the town, she couldn't stand the neighbors, everything seemed to bother her.

Everything except _that_ garden…

Rose stopped walking and looked up, her gaze landing on the gloomy mansion on top of the hill. The haunted mansion. For a brief moment, Rose considered; that strange sound had to come from somewhere… But she quickly dismissed the thought – it was obvious that it had to be the owner of the mansion, the very same person who's responsible for the state of the beautiful garden. Not some crazy killer, and definitely _not_ a ghost.

She surveyed the view for a few seconds, a frown making its way on her face. The feeling of superiority, ha! She'd ran away, not spending there more than five minutes tops!_ 'Just proves how easily fooled I am,' _Rose thought bitterly _'People tell me there's a killer-ghost in there, and I subconsciously believe them.'_ She shook her head, as if to rid herself of the thought _'No way! I'm not afraid! I just got startled! It was probably the wind after all. Yes, the wind.'_

Her gaze hardened as she decided – haunted or not, she will be having another trip to the mansion and its grounds…

-

Ignoring the strong feeling of déjà vu, Rose pushed the gate open just a bit, so that she could slip through without much difficulty. The metal made a soft screeching noise, and Rose tried to tell herself that it was the same sound from yesterday. _'The wind made the gate move and screech, oh so very scary, Rose,' _she scolded herself mentally. She also made a note to ignore that sound if it'd reach her ears again.

The green sculptures mesmerized her once again. Rose couldn't believe that they were made by a person; whoever was the creator, they were no doubt talented as hell. _'As if scissors were a part of their hands,'_ Rose mused, her fingertips grazing over a giant bird's side.

Oh, the irony.

Making sure not to hum any kind of song in her head in order to keep it clear, Rose wandered around aimlessly, looking over the statues. The cold October air made her snuggle into her warm jacket. Rose was glad she'd put on some warm clothes before sneaking out of the house. Her turtleneck shirt was nearly enough to keep her body safe from the bitter wind, but the jacket was an extra shield, and worked perfectly.

Unlike last time, the wind was still and hadn't been making almost any noise since Rose appeared on the grounds. The girl didn't know if that was a good thing – sure, it wouldn't make the gate screech or anything like that, but that meant the eerie silence would surround her, along with the creepy shadows.

Rose knew perfectly that she had a fairly pleasant voice – until she used it to sing. Her singing skills were a little below average. Not that she could make glass shatter, it wasn't _that_ bad; but still, she knew to stay out of any sort of singing, for her own good, as well as those within earshot. However, the horrible silence that engulfed the garden and everything that was around was enough of a scare for her, and Rose actually began to mutter a silly song under her breath, just for the sake of breaking the silence.

"I'm super, thanks for asking

All things considered I couldn't be better I must say!

I'm feeling super,

No, nothing bugs me.

Everything is super when you're --"

The song was cut short when Rose turned around suddenly. She could swear she'd heard something, and this time it wasn't the screeching of the gate. But she saw nothing behind her.

"I'm feeling super, bullshit," she muttered to herself while turning back and resuming her walk. She opened her mouth to continue the song, when it happened again.

_Snip._

_Snip._

_Snip._

Doing a 180-spin, Rose half-suspected to see nothing different than two seconds ago. The shock that hit her like a truck after the suspicion wasn't confirmed made her take a blind step back and her back collided with one of the shrub statues.

Before her stood a boy, taller than her by a good few inches, dressed in black leather from head to toe. His pitch black hair looked like he'd been struck by lightning, he had a very pale complexion and eyes as black as his wild hair. Rose's brain could hardly comprehend what was going on when her eyes lowered down his arms and stopped upon the gleaming objects in his hands. Blades.

"Damn…" her voice was hoarse and barely above whisper "I mean, I'm sorry… For, uh… Violating your garden… With my presence…" she was painfully aware that she had a giant shrub sculpture right behind her, and the man was standing around four or five feet away from her. No escape from this one.

"Please…" Rose had no idea how to act. She focused her eyes on the blades in his hands when she noticed something odd. He wasn't holding the blades… They were his hands.

"Kim?"

Her eyes shot up to his face as he spoke. She made another discovery then; his pale face, contrasting greatly with his hair and eyes, was covered with scars. They seemed to be created by sharp blades. She focused on the scars, tracing them with her eyes before shifting her attention to his whole face and the expression he wore. It was so… Sad and sincere. Rose couldn't find a word that would match his expression.

"Huh…?" she breathed out.

"You're not Kim." The man stated, his voice losing the hopeful tone it had when he first spoke the name. Now, it was filled with sadness and sorrow so deep, it clenched her heart.

"No, I'm not." Rose admitted absent-mindedly, fiddling with her fingers while eyeing his hands. His voice was very soft and quiet and his expression so harmless, but everything else screamed 'dangerous'. Her body was so tense, it felt like a simple gust of wind could snap her in half.

The man stared at her with those sad eyes, the knives and scissors twitching at his side in a nervous manner. "I scared you." He stated.

"N-no… You just… startled me, that's all," Rose mumbled, the shock slowly wearing off, yet the fear was still there. Acting along, she tried to relax "I thought that I'm alone here. Sorry."

He didn't reply, just continued to stare at her with a heart-melting expression. Rose had no idea what to do, stand in her spot and wait for him to move or try to move away from him herself. Would he lash out at her with those hands of his?

"I scared you." He repeated "You ran away yesterday."

"Oh…" the girl managed to utter "Well, I was a bit, uh, caught up in looking at those beautiful works of art and well, you… Startled me." She repeated lamely "I ran away because… I hadn't been expecting anyone to be here, beside me."

"Oh." He said simply.

"Did you made those?" Rose decided to change the topic. With every passing second she continued to relax more, but her guard was still up, in case the man would turn out not to be as harmless as she was beginning to think.

"Yes."

"They're beautiful." She said, trying to smile at him and failing miserably "I've never seen anything like it."

"Thank you."

"Uh, do you live here?"

"Yes."

"Oh…" Rose gulped slightly "I heard this place is being haunted, or something. Well, I guess people here are as stup-" she bit her tongue just in time "_silly_, as I thought… Um, what's your name?"

"Edward."

Now that she knew her name, he seemed somewhat… more human. Despite the odd leather suit and, of course, scissors for hands. Rose tried to smile again, and this time it lasted for longer than a millisecond.

"Nice to meet you, Edward. I'm Rose." Out of pure impulse, her hand twitched as she wanted to raise it for him to shake. Catching herself when her arm was half-way extended, she grinned sheepishly and lowered her hand to hide it behind her back. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"Rose?" Edward tilted his head to the side "Like a flower?"

"Yeah," her smile widened a bit "Many people point that out… Edward is a very nice name." she suddenly exclaimed.

"Thank you."

Silence fell upon them as Edward continued to stare at her without blinking, which in turn made Rose nervous; she tried to ignore it and pick up the conversation, not liking the silence one bit.

"So," she began, biting on her lip softly "You live all by yourself?"

His eyes turned sad again, and Rose blinked in surprise, discovering that he looked so much like a little child. Maybe it was the strange aura around him, that of innocence, honesty and everything else that resembled a kid.

"Yes." He replied simply, not going into any sort of detail.

"Uh, listen, Edward," Rose wasn't sure what she was doing, but she felt like she needed to get out of that place as fast as possible. Now that she was almost sure that the boy would not harm her, she decided to make a move towards the gate "It's awfully late, and I need to get back, or else I'll be in huge trouble." She sneaked a glance at her exit way before locking her eyes with Edward's black orbs "It was, ah, very nice to meet you."

"Don't go."

Rose froze in her spot. The voice was so quiet, she wasn't sure if this Edward had uttered it, or had she just imagined it. She looked at him and once again, those sad eyes of his made her heart clench in… What? Empathy? Compassion? Pity?

"But… But I have to," she managed to let out "It's really late and I shouldn't be here right now."

The look on his scarred face made her think that she's done something wrong.

"I could come visit you tomorrow… If you'd like."

The hopeful expression appeared slowly, gradually. "You could?"

"Yes, I promise I'll be back tomorrow, and earlier." Rose was glad the next day was Saturday. She could come visit Edward right after breakfast and spend some more time with him, getting to know this strange man.

…Wait a minute. Did she really think of coming back? Was she really over the initial shock and ready to encounter him in a more calm, civil manner? Had she already forgotten about the scissors and knives his hands were made of? Rose had every right to run away and never come back. Edward could be the killer the people have been going on about every time the mansion's been brought up in the conversation. And he most certainly _looked_ like a killer!

_'No, he doesn't,'_ she argued with herself while staring at him. Despite those deadly-looking blades and black leather, Edward looked like… Rose bit on her lower lip.

He looked like a very lonely person.

"I promise I'll come and visit you tomorrow after breakfast." Rose found herself saying "Is that okay with you?"

Edward was silent for a few seconds, before the corner of his lips twitched ever so slightly. "Thank you."

-

As Rose laid in her bed, safe and sound, with her arms crossed behind her head and serving as a pillow, she found herself unable to sleep. Her meeting with Edward, everything she said and everything he said back had been circling in her mind, keeping her wide awake.

She had promised him – a total stranger – that she'd come back and see him. Despite how afraid she'd been when she first saw him standing directly behind her, his blades gleaming in the moonlight, she had promised to come back.

Rose closed her eyes and saw his face again. His scarred, sad face. And right then and there, she knew she cannot, no matter what, break that promise.

* * *

_**A**__: I could NOT resist putting a little bit of South Park in this one xD It came out of nowhere, I swear! I'll try to restrain myself in the future; I cannot make any promises, though! _

_Thanks for reading!__ Now, I'd be forever grateful for some feedback. Review, please!_


	3. A Promise Kept

_Thank you so much, _Cheshire Dreaming_, _Animelover1002_, _Jen_, _xLoveShot_ and _Scissor-Paws_ for the lovely reviews! These are getting me motivated, I swear! :)_

_E__njoy the third part!_

* * *

**Chapter Three: A Promise Kept**

Saturday came, bringing Rose a long-awaited break from school. She woke up later than usual and spend ten minutes stretching and yawning, not leaving her bed. It wasn't until Mrs. Wheeler came upstairs and almost literally dragged her out of bed that Rose was forced to abandon her warm, comfortable shelter. After getting dressed in her favorite worn off jeans and an one-size-too-big T-shirt, Rose ran down the stairs, almost colliding with Trevor, and stopped in the kitchen doorway. Her mother was preparing breakfast and Denis was helping her, as much as a 9-year-old boy could.

"Where's dad?" Rose asked, taking her seat at the table.

"Good morning to you, too, Rose," Denis frowned at her "I hope you had pleasant dreams."

"Well?" Rose pressed impatiently, ignoring her little brother, who in turn huffed angrily.

"Oh, he's gone downtown to get some things for his car," Mrs. Wheeler replied, not looking up from her task.

"_Whaa_?" Rose widened her eyes "But I wanted to go with him! Why didn't he wake me up?"

And then a thought bloomed in her mind. She had to go to the mansion today. To meet Edward. She'd promised.

"Oh, you know how awful you can get in the morning, honey," her mother said lightly "I'm sure he wanted to get out of the house unharmed."

"Yeah! You're a real monster in the morning," Denis remarked.

"Shut up, you brat," she hissed, glaring at the boy.

A hand landed on her shoulder. "Sorry, Ro', but that's kinda true." Trevor grinned and sat down next to her.

"Whatever, you guys," she stood up, feigning anger "I'm outta here."

"Just be sure to come back around dinner, hun!" Mrs. Wheeler said, indifferent to her children teasing. After so much time, she had learnt to simply get used to it. The woman didn't even flinch when the front doors slammed shut.

* * *

There she was again. Rose couldn't believe that she was standing before the main iron gates, gathering up her courage to go through. She stood in her spot for a while, arguing with herself, before pushing the gate and heading straight for the garden. She'd keep her distance from the man, just in case. If he'd turn out to be completely harmless, she could consider befriending him.

He looked so lonely…

Rose stopped suddenly as she heard the familiar sound of metal scraping against metal. Edward's scissors. She spun around and sure enough, he was standing behind her, those black eyes staring into her own, wide ones.

"You came." There was wonder in his voice.

"Of course I came," she smiled weakly "I told you so."

Edward's lips did that small twitch again. Encouraged, Rose sat down on the grass and invited him to sit next to her. He made a few steps towards her and slowly, sat down oppositely to the girl.

Rose was surprised, shocked even, to see that he seemed as frightened by her presence as she was.

"So," she began "You said you live alone here. Why?"

"The Inventor. He never woke up." Was his simple reply.

Another wave of sympathy washed over Rose as she stared at him sadly. "Your… father?"

"The Inventor." Edward repeated "He didn't finish me." The blades at his side moved, making that odd snipping sound.

"Oh, I see," Rose had no idea what was he talking about. Edward looked like a normal human being -- okay, maybe 'normal' wasn't a good word to describe him, but he definitely looked human, even with his unkempt jet black hair and that weird outfit. Save for his scissored hands, of course.

The 'Inventor', was it possible that he _created_ Edward? Could it be that the inventor died before 'finishing' his creation? Was that the reason why Edward had those dangerous-looking blades as fingers?

"Rose?"

"Huh?" his soft voice brought her back to the present "Oh, um, sorry. I kind of got lost in thoughts," she grinned sheepishly. "I tend to do that quite often." She bit her lip, desperate to think of a lighter topic "So, um, have you got any er, friends?"

He lowered his gaze to the grass and Rose smacked herself. _'Oh yeah, he's probably Mister Popular around here. Stupid!'_ she yelled at herself mentally. So much for lightening up the atmosphere. She couldn't bear to look at his sad face, so she kept her head lowered, her fingers twirling nervously in the grass.

Just as she was about to apologize and start over, Edward spoke.

"A woman came here once and took me down there," he motioned the town below the hill "I became a part of the family. I had friends. But then something bad happened. Many bad things. And I had to escape back up here."

"Oh," Rose was very curious, since his little speech wasn't as detailed as she'd like, but decided not to pry, at least not now. "Well, I… I could be your friend, if you'd like."

His black eyes met hers finally and Rose was left speechless at the strong emotions shining through. Hope and longing.

"I mean, I'm new here, and I don't have that much friends myself, but you seem all right and I could… We could hang out, sometimes." The girl felt her face coloring. She was such an idiot.

"You want to be… my friend?" Edward uttered.

Even if she wanted, Rose couldn't say 'no' now. _'God, I'm such a wuss,' _"Yeah… I guess." She found herself smiling a little. "I really love this garden. All those masterpieces cut from a simple shrub… It creates an amazing atmosphere, makes you wanna sit around and do nothing but stare at them…" Rose blushed harder, embarrassed "Sorry, I'm shutting up now."

"That's okay." Edward's lips twitched again.

"All right, if you want to laugh at me being a babbling idiot, then go on," Rose grinned, encouraging him.

"You're not an idiot." Edward looked a bit frightened, thinking that she assumed he meant that.

"Trust me, I am." The girl grinned wider "Well, go on; smile!"

Edward, although hesitantly at first, managed to stretch his lips in a small but sincere smile.

"There you go!" Rose couldn't stop grinning. She almost forgot about her new friends' bladed hands and grotesque appearance "Hey, if it wouldn't be a problem, I'd love to see how you do these things," she waved at the green statues.

"Sure," Edward smiled and stood up, Rose following him closely. They found a square shrub and Edward looked it over. "What would you like me to make?" he asked.

"Um, I dunno, anything's good with me." Rose thought for a moment "Just make whatever you feel like making. I'll just watch," she sat down again in front of the shrub, waiting for Edward to begin.

The bladed boy walked around the shrub examining it closely before bringing his arms up. And he began to cut.

Rose watched with wide eyes as his hands became a blur, the green bits and pieces flying around as the shrubbery became thinner and thinner. Soon, Edward stepped away and the girl felt her jaw lowering and her eyes growing as wide as possible.

"It… It's…"

The shrubbery was cut in the shape of a flower. A long stem with leaves sticking out and a beautiful, fully bloomed flower at the top. It was all green, but Rose thought she could make out a faint pinkish hue. It was purely her imagination, though.

"It's a rose." Edward stated timidly.

"Edward, it's beautiful!" Rose cried out, getting to her feet and gazing at the sculpture up close. "I've never… You… _Wow_," she breathed out, speechless.

"Thank you," the artist smiled shyly.

"Hey, do you think you could make something like _that_ in my garden?" Rose blurted out, not really thinking it over "It'd be so awesome!"

Edward shifted uncomfortably in his place, his scissors twitching at his side. "Um… I wouldn't want to…"

Rose, clueless at first, caught on quickly. "Oh. I shouldn't have… I'm sorry." She smiled sheepishly "I forgot. Something bad happened to you down there and now you're afraid. Sorry."

Edward just looked down. She hated that look on his face and was desperate to change it.

"Edward," she began, biting her lower lip "Time changes. People change. Whatever happened to you must've been really painful, but..." she took a step forward, then another one, facing him "Do you really want to be all alone up here?"

"No." Edward lifted his eyes from the ground, but still kept his head low "But I don't want _that_ to happen again."

Rose was silent. She figured she would find out what 'that' was exactly, but not from Edward. Her shoulders slumped a bit, but she took a breath and said, "Would you like to try?"

"Try?" he looked at her unsurely.

"Yeah." The girl smiled. "You need to show people that you're not a bad person."

"I'm… not?"

"Oh, Edward!" Rose cried out "Of course you're not!" then, she added in a light, teasing note, "I don't allow bad people to be my friends."

The look in Edward's eyes was indescribable and brought sudden warmth in Rose's heart. She smiled. Finally, Edward wasn't looking so down anymore.

"So," she gently continued "How about you join me and my family for dinner sometime?"

The scissors were twitching at his sides as he frowned, obviously lost in thoughts. Rose had offered him friendship, but she also asked him to go down there again. Edward knew he could never, ever go back there, he would never risk to be exposed to other people – _normal_ people – because they would surely not accept him. He would never repeat _that_ mistake, ever again.

He wanted a friend; but he'd rather not have one at all than have one for a brief moment, until his friend would be ripped away from him. That happened once. And it was painful.

So painful.

"You know, you don't have to reply straight away," Rose's voice soothed his nerves the slightest bit "You can think about it as long as you want. Just… Think it over, okay? I won't tell anyone about you until you give me the reply."

The girl checked her watch in a nervous manner. Maybe she shouldn't have gone so far. She knew practically nothing about him! _'There is a possibility that he's that crazy murderer the people are talking about; he may be a really good actor, and he's just waiting for an opportunity to use those blades of his to cut something other than shrubbery…'_ that thought, although quite reasonable, seemed to be more forced out. Rose couldn't bring herself to be suspicious about Edward, nor could she believe the silent, half-hearted suspicions the overly-sensible part of her brain created.

It was almost time for dinner, as Rose noted with surprise. She didn't realize how much time she'd spent in the garden with Edward. She looked up at him only to see the faraway yet focused look on his scarred face. He was thinking about something really hard.

"Um, Edward?" she uttered quietly, not wanting to startle him. "I think I have to go now."

This made him shift his attention to her. "Oh. Okay." He said simply.

"I'll be back," Rose didn't know why, but she felt like she had to assure him of that "I just don't know if it'll be later today or tomorrow. I have to catch up with school, and my parents wanted to take a trip around the town. But I'll be back."

Edward looked at Rose, his coal black eyes on her soft olive ones. Slowly, the corners of his lips lifted and, for the first time, he smiled at her. Seeing this, Rose felt her own lips stretch in a smile, much wider than his, but just as sincere.

"Well, see you later, Edward!" she said cheerfully, waving shortly before turning and throttling to the gate. As she went through it, she flashed him one last smile and soon disappeared from his view.

Edward was left alone again.

And he didn't like that feeling.

* * *

_**A**__: __Remember; Reviews are my fuel! :)_


	4. His Decision

_I'm getting more feedback than I'd ever dare to imagine! It's such a great thing, really. For taking the time and leaving a Review, I'd like to thank _xLoveShot_, _Jen_, _Vampire Ninja13_, _Animelover1002_, _scissor-paws_, _Teh Kit-chan_, _Katt the Pirate_ and _Volital_. You guys are amazing, all of you. I can just hope I won't loose you at some point ;)_

_Enjoy, for this chapter is dedicated to you, Reviewers, and all of the silent Readers as well!_

* * *

**Chapter Four: His Decision**

Rose returned home, her thoughts spinning around her head like a tornado. She needed time to think over everything that had happened between her and Edward. She needed to analyze every thing she said, and his every reply. She didn't know why, but the strange whirlwind of thoughts began just as her house came into view. When she was up the mountain, her mind was calm and quiet – that is, as calm and quiet a mind can be when you're confronted with a boy with blades as hands.

"Rose? Is that you?"

"Yeah," she called back and shut the door behind her. From the looks of it, her dad wasn't back from town yet, and Trevor had left as well. Mrs. Wheeler was sitting in the spacious living room, watching a movie on TV and Denis was occupying the floor a few feet away from the couch, drawing stick figures.

"What were you up to?" her mother questioned, not even turning from the screen to look at her.

"Just walking up and down some streets," Rose lied fluently. At Denis' age, she used to be a horrible liar, but as she got older, her lying skills became quite decent.

"Up and down some streets, huh?" too bad her own mother knew her too well "And how did you find those streets?"

"Lovely," Rose began to walk away towards the stairs, wanting to lock herself in her room and think, but Mrs. Wheeler had some other plans.

"Rose," she turned her head, her light brown eyes catching her daughters' "Did you go out to see Jason?"

"Mother!" the girl rolled her eyes at the rather suggestive tone the woman used "No, I didn't. You know full well that I and Jason… That we just don't…"

"I know, I know," Mrs. Wheeler said it like it was a disappointment "Still, invite him to dinner when you see him, got that?"

"Yeah, sure," Rose was not in the mood to explain that Jason was her friend, and she really didn't mind having him over – as long as her mother wouldn't make any comments about their 'relationship' which was, of course, nonexistent. Before Mrs. Wheeler had the chance to add anything else, she dashed up the stairs, but not before fighting with herself to remain calm as she heard her younger brother say, "Mom, is Rose dating Jason?" to which the mother just giggled.

The door clicked closed and the girl threw herself on the bed, just laying there and breathing in the pleasant scent of her freshly-washed covers. Then, her mind returned to her friend – her new, strange friend.

She had invited Edward over to dinner. Just like that. It wasn't even about his hands anymore; Rose didn't know when she stopped caring about the blades, maybe not completely, but she was thinking about them less and less. It was something else that bothered her.

Edward had clearly indicated that something horrible had happened to him the last time he had the courage to show himself in town. She had yet to find out what it was exactly. She was confused. The invitation had come out spontaneously and was a shock for Edward as well as Rose herself. She didn't know how that happened.

All she knew was that she didn't like seeing him as upset as he was. Rose, although she'd rather not admit it to anyone, was a gentle and caring soul. Edward was her friend now, and she hated it when her friends suffered.

Sometimes, Rose wished she wouldn't be so rash.

_'So, what next?' _the question popped out. Rose though about it for a while before making up her mind. She would keep visiting Edward and give him as much time as he needed. If he decided that he doesn't want to risk anything and decline her offer, she'd leave it alone and continue their blooming friendship.

But, what if he says that he's willing to try again? Rose bit on her lower lip in thought. Then, she would have to tell her parents and siblings about her new friend, prepare them for his… unusual appearance, and finally, her family and Edward would meet.

What happens next was beyond the girls' imagination.

"Rose!" the high voice of her little brother brought her back on Earth. "Mom says dinner's ready!"

"Coming!" she yelled back and, with a final, long sigh, got up from her bed.

* * *

A week had passed and it was Friday again. As promised, to Edward and to herself, Rose had been visiting the boy every day after school, staying for not longer than an hour, so that her parents wouldn't get suspicious. The two had spent the time in the garden, sitting on the grass with their backs pressed against one of the shrub sculptures, and talked. Well, it was mainly Rose who'd done all the talking, telling her new friend about her previous life, her hobbies, likes and dislikes and anything in general. Edward would throw a comment every now and then, and he'd answered all her questions in his usual, quiet and to-the-point matter.

Rose had learnt a bit about the Inventor and how he'd used to read to Edward and talk to him, teaching him manners and everything else. Then, probing as gently as she could, Rose had tried to find out what had happened to Edward when he first showed up in town. Edward turned so sad that she soon found herself recalling a few silly, corny jokes and anecdotes and sharing them with him in a desperate attempt to lighten the mood.

All her questions concerning Edward's secret were answered the same day. Rose was walking home from school when she came across Jason once again. During the past week, the boy had called her once but it didn't last long, as both were quite busy with school work.

"Jay!" Rose greeted with a playful salute "What's up?"

"Nothing much, beside a mountain of homework," the boy grinned down at her "I've heard you were quite busy yourself, missy,"

"Not really," she shrugged "Just exploring the neighborhood."

"You could've called, I'd gladly escort you around." His voice was playful as he nudged her gently.

"I thought you're too busy to play baby-sitter, and besides," the girl threw him a mock-glare "I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." Then, without waiting for his reply, she put on a blank expression and asked, "What do you know about that huge mansion?"

Jason looked at her, surprised "Not much. I've heard that a few years ago a guy was killed by a very dangerous…" the boy paused, searching for the right word "person. Actually, they both killed each other. I don't know the details, but I heard the mansion's abandoned ever since."

Rose pondered over the bit of information. Edward came to town. Something horrible happened to him. He returned to the mansion, but someone came after him. And they killed each other… But Edward was alive!

_'I guess I will have to interrogate Edward himself,'_ she nodded to herself _'When the time is right.'_

"...so, if you're free, how about tomorrow?"

Rose's head snapped up. "Huh?"

Jason looked at her with a frown. "Were you even listening?"

"I, eh," she grinned sheepishly "No, not really."

"I said," he sounded annoyed "That if you're not doing anything tomorrow, maybe I could show you a great place and we can grab some coffee. Or hot chocolate."

Hot chocolate was an immense temptation, and Rose didn't think twice before nodding eagerly. "Sure!"

Jason smiled. "Great, how about I pick you up around eleven?"

"Yeah, okay." The girl shrugged, smiling up at her friend "So, I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

Once again, Rose found herself smiling brightly at Edward as he appeared from the mansion's entrance. Somehow, she wanted to laugh at the thought of her friend being a murderer. Sure, he looked kind of dangerous at first sight, but after the initial shock wears off, even a blind man could tell that Edward is just a shy, timid and a bit naïve but gentle man, who would never harm anyone willingly.

And then she blinked. Willingly, no. But what if it was an accident? Surely, with scissors as hands, it would be very easy to cause an accident like… killing someone. Rose looked at his face, at the little scars marring his white, porcelain-like skin. She'd asked him about them. He said it was an accident.

Accident.

"Hi," she uttered as Edward came closer. All her thoughts concerning his past faded away as she saw him smile back; it was barely visible, but it was there.

"Hello." He greeted back in that quiet, timid voice of his.

Rose grinned at him and lowered herself to the ground, sitting on the grass cross-legged and indicating him to join her. He did, and Rose sent him a quick smile before leaning back, her hands supporting her. She looked up at the sky, feeling very content. The air seemed to warm up ever so slightly as well. Or was it because of her warm clothes?

"You know," Rose started, seeing in the corner of her eye that Edward followed her gaze "Back in my old home, I didn't get to look at the stars. We lived in a pretty busy district and all the buildings blocked the sky. There was only one place I could go and just lie down and stare at if for countless minutes." She paused, seeing her secret place in her mind's eyes "An old, abandoned playground."

Edward didn't say a word, just turned his head to look at her, his expression genuinely curious and so innocent.

"My parents were very busy people. They never had the time to take me anywhere, so I was pretty much all by myself after I started walking and talking. And my brother, Trevor…" she stopped suddenly.

"Isn't this the coolest thing ever?" Rose grimaced as she heard her own voice, so high-pitched and forced out. She laid back and used her arms as a pillow for her head "I love doing this. I used to try and count the stars when I was younger!"

Her pathetic attempts at lightening up the atmosphere was rewarded with a small smile from Edward.

"The lights look beautiful from up there," he said, nodding his head towards the mansion.

"Really?" Rose returned to the sitting position and looked at him with wide, excited eyes "Could you, um… Show me?"

He smiled again, making Rose grin widely.

* * *

Edward watched the girl closely as she gazed through the hole in the roof. It was so weird for him; she looked happy lying on the ground and staring at the sky back in the garden, but then she mentioned her parents and brother and looked so sad… So Edward suggested this. And once again felt slightly overwhelmed by the display of emotions that played on her face, in her eyes. The warm hazel color sparkled and gleamed as the stars reflected in Rose's eyes, delight and joy seeped from her and the scissor-handed boy could almost feel it inside of him.

"Oh, Edward!" Rose uttered in a whisper "This is just… too cool."

The word 'cool' made him wonder if she wasn't cold. The jacket she wore looked warm enough, but she had spent a good amount of time in the chilly air, and the big hole in the roof didn't help.

"Um," Edward spoke up, making Rose turn to him with a wide, excited smile on her face. "Are you cold?"

"No, not really," that wasn't exactly hundred-percent truth, but the girl wasn't about to give up Edward's company because of some below-zero degrees.

It wasn't as if she had never experienced worse.

She decided to change the topic, focusing the conversation on him once again, "Do you often do that? Watch the stars, I mean?"

Edward nodded, then blinked, realizing that Rose's back was facing him and she couldn't see it. "Yes," he said "I don't have much to do, beside tending the garden."

His voice, although just as quiet and clear as always, made her frown. Rose turned around to face him and stuffed her hands in the jacket pockets.

"You know," she drawled "I could always show you some fun things you can do when you're bored."

"You could?" Edward echoed, sounding both surprised and hopeful, when he realized something "You mean… Down _there_?"

"Oh, Edward!" Rose said "I don't know what had happened all those years ago, but people change! I bet they hardly remember whatever had occurred here!"

Edward looked at her, unconvinced. "They didn't forget. I did something horrible. I…" he hesitated, guilt radiating from him.

Rose knew he was about to confess, although it looked extremely hard for him. Instead of sucking in her breath and wait impatiently for him to continue like she would usually do, the girl found herself appearing next to him and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, everyone makes mistakes, Edward. It's a part of human nature, to do something wrong at some point in their lives. All that matters is regret, and if you regret what you've done and are desperate to change, then you're a good person."

Edward stood still. He froze when her hand touched his shoulder in such a delicate yet meaningful gesture, it made him remember how pleasant someone's touch was. He'd almost forgotten. The boy thought back when he'd lived down there, with Peg and her family… and Kim. Comforting, friendly touches were exchanged on almost a daily basis, and when Rose's hand made contact with his shoulder, Edward found himself wishing he could go back in time, just to be treated like a family member. Like a human being.

And then Rose said those wonderful words… A part of human nature, she said; she called him a 'good person', because he regret the terrible things he'd done. She saw him as an equal, despite his deadly hands.

She saw his hands and yet she promised to come back. And she did, over and over again.

And now, she was standing next to him. As a friend.

Rose panicked slightly as she noticed that Edward's eyes become glossy and moist. For a brief moment, she tried to figure out what had she said or done wrong, but soon realized that Edward was simply touched by her words. In her eyes, it made him even more amazing. Words so simple and, in Rose's mind, cliché brought him so much happiness.

_'My God,'_ she thought, realizing her own eyes were starting to water ever so slightly _'When have I turned into such an over-emotional girl? Where the hell did my tough-ness go?!'_

Forcing everything aside and vigorously blinking back the tears, Rose turned Edward gently so that he was fully facing her. "So, what do you say?" she managed to bring a cheerful smile to her lips "We could go 'round the town when it's dark, so that no one will see you." She added, hoping that'd convince him.

"But I… My hands-" Edward's blades twitched at his side nervously.

"No one will see you," Rose repeated, feeling him tentatively give in "I promise I'll show you only those parts of the town that are rarely visited."

Edward gazed at Rose's smiling face as she said her last words "I, as your friend, will protect you," her tone was light and an echo of laughter was heard.

And that was enough to convince him.

"Okay."

As nervous and tense as he was with the idea of returning to town and risk people finding out about him, Rose's excited laughter which filled the old room made all worries melt away.

She would protect him. She was his friend.

That thought, combined with seeing the girl so happy, made Edward smile his widest smile she'd ever seen him wear. And it only made her grin more.

_**A**: Here you go, another cute Rose-Edward moment! The next chapter should be longer than usual, but it also should take long to get out. I am asking for your patience and understanding._

_And Reviews, of course! :)_


	5. A Place for Her

_I love my Reviewers. You guys are so amazing. _xLoveShot_, _Volital_, _Jen_ and _Katt the Pirate_, thank you guys so much! Your kind words make me keep going, honestly. It wouldn't go that far without your support._

_Without further ado, enjoy Chapter 5!_

* * *

**Chapter Five: ****A Place for Her**

"Are you going somewhere, Rose?"

The girl froze. She was about to leave the house, throwing a simple 'Be back for supper' over her shoulder so that no one would stop her. With father at work and mother stuck in the kitchen, exchanging some gossip over the phone with her new friends, it seemed like an easy plan. Since the weather was fairly pleasant, Denis went over to a friend from school.

Unfortunately, Trevor was still in the house, waiting for some of his own friends to come over.

The day had not started out well for Rose. At all.

"It's not your business," Rose said calmly, trying to look and sound as casual as always.

"Oh really?" Trevor countered, mockingly "Actually, you don't need to tell me. It's kinda cute, you know; little Rose and her childhood sweetheart…"

"I am _not_ going out with him!" she uttered loudly, trying to refrain from shouting "He's my friend!"

"Yeah, I know how it goes," her brother teased further, not noticing the girls' foul mood "Friends. _With benefits_."

"Well," Rose found herself loosing control; her voice came out like a hiss " Just because you go around screwing all the girls you know doesn't have to mean I'm the same."

Trevor recoiled, as if slapped. He stared at her with wide eyes and partially open mouth. Rose flinched inwardly, yet refused to show she regretted those words. She did.

She just had to ruin everything.

"I think you went too far this time." Trevor said in a dangerously low voice "I just hope you didn't really mean it."

So, he was giving her a chance to apologize, right there and then, and proceed living through the horrible day, which was just getting worse and worse for her.

The apology, the simple 'sorry' was just at the back of her tongue, ready to be voiced. Stubbornly, Rose swallowed hard and refused to lift her gaze to look into his eyes, to glance at Trevor who no doubt looked pissed and hurt at the same time. She told herself she wasn't in the mood to gaze at his face – it was a lie. She didn't want to see the wounded expression she had caused.

"Sorry, but I don't have time right now," she brushed past him, feeling like the most awful person on Earth.

"Why are you still like _that_?"

Rose stopped, her foot on the step of the stairs. She couldn't bring herself to look at her brother right now.

"Why can't you move on?"

Rose felt like the more she'd been listening, the more she wanted to cry. So, she just ran down the stairs, snatched her jacket and threw a quiet 'Bye' in the direction of the kitchen. And she was gone.

* * *

Rose, although truly happy to see her best friend after three long years of exchanging e-mails and on-line conversations, couldn't win with her awful mood. She managed to put on a convincing smile and listen to Jason as he talked about everything and nothing.

It was a weird feeling; Rose would rather not talk about what happened that morning, she was afraid she'd burst into tears if she ever mentioned it. Yet, she thought a whole-hearted confession would do her good. Every time she mustered up the courage to open her mouth, she chose to lift the mug to her lips and sip on her hot chocolate instead.

She was such a coward.

"… and one day, we dared him to go up the mountain and knock on the mansion's door!" Jason narrated, making Rose snap out of her musings. Jason's been talking the whole time, but the words 'mountain' and 'mansion' made her remember Edward.

"Oh, really? And what?" Rose didn't have to pretend to be interested. She really was.

Jason shrugged and laughed. "The chicken, walked past the iron gate and did a 180 degree, running as if his ass was on fire!"

"It couldn't be that scary, could it?"

"He said he heard some strange noises."

Rose's interest perked up some more. "Noises?"

"Yeah, some weird stuff. I'm not sure, he was so scared and we couldn't understand a word." The boy chuckled at the memory, then locked his eyes with Rose's. "You seem awfully interested in that old place."

Rose blinked, leaning back in her seat and stealing some time by taking a sip of her drink. "Well, you know me," she drawled, tugging at her sleeve "I'm into the oddest things."

"Yeah, I know," Jason replied, smiling.

Deciding to change the topic so that she could think, Rose asked, "So, what else? Was it hard for you to adapt?"

"Oh, not at all! All the people…"

And Jason went about how friendly and open the people around were for him and how he had to attend countless parties and barbecues while Rose began to muse, nodding from time to time.

Edward. Could she tell Jason about her new friend? Rose was always good at keeping secrets – that's because she had very little secrets and no one to talk to when she was younger. She had no friends, and that wasn't entirely her own fault. That's why whenever she'd found out about something, important or not, she could easily keep it to herself. No one was listening, anyway.

Then again, Jason was her friend ever since she was 10. They've stuck together for 6 years, even if they were separated. She could trust him. Yes, she can tell him about Edward. That way, Edward would gain another friend.

"… And Ian, he's a bit of a computer freak, but we all…"

Freak. What if Jason thought about Edward like that? Then, he would surely tell her parents about the 'dangerous, scissor-handed freak' Rose likes to hang out with so much. And she would never see Edward again.

And he would be alone again.

"… and she told me I was a really nice guy…"

Rose listened to Jason's stories, keeping a focused expression, chuckling and frowning when necessary. Yes, Jason was a nice guy. He would never judge Edward by his appearance only, no matter how frightening and weird. If Rose told him about Edward's true nature, he would definitely understand.

Yes, Edward would be happy to gain another friend.

"Jason," Rose spoke up when Jason paused shortly his talk.

"What's the matter?"

"Can I…" she hesitated a second "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure," Jason looked surprised she'd ask "Go ahead."

"I…"

She trailed off, causing her friend to lean forward. "Yes?" he pushed gently.

"I found out that…"

* * *

It was already past noon and Edward was standing in his room, staring out the huge hole in the roof. The sky was clear blue, as it usually had been. Not much has changed after…

After Kim had kissed him.

And walked away, never coming back.

Edward shook his head, determined not to recall any past memories. The blades at his side scrapped against each other. It was a really strange, perplexing feeling - Edward felt both tremendous happiness and incredible pain when he remembered Peg and her family, all his friends who first praised him and then shunned in the blink of an eye. Then there was Kim, of course.

Human emotions were so confusing.

To take his mind off the things that made him sad and nostalgic, Edward wondered when Rose would pay him a visit. The boy smiled widely. He's been so excited to have a new friend, he finally wasn't so alone now. Even when she wasn't there with him, he knew she'd come eventually.

Silently, he hoped she'd come soon. Loneliness was so… suffocating.

* * *

_'Why can't I just say it?!'_ Rose asked herself, biting her lip. Deep down inside, she knew that Edward would not appreciate being mentioned in town. No matter how much she trusted her childhood friend.

"Rose, what's the matter?"

Jason's voice made her jump in her seat. Out of nervousness, Rose laughed and raised her almost empty mug. "I really like this hot chocolate."

Jason must've taken her laugh as a whole-hearted one and gave a loud chuckle himself. "You're unbelievable, Rose."

She just grinned, feeling that she'd just done the right thing.

"So," Jason started, emptying his mug "You want another round or shall we go now?"

"Yeah, let's go," Rose got up, reminding herself to visit Edward "I have lots to do."

"How's school treating you, by the way?"

"Good, I guess. The teachers cut me some slack 'cause I'm new and all, but I still have to do homework assignments and study my brains out," Rose smiled lightly.

Jason threw her a look as they walked down the street in the general direction of his house, which was closer. "I meant the people."

"Oh." Rose's smile melted away slowly. She still hadn't made any friends nor learnt her classmates' names. "Well, there was a girl that asked me to hand her pencil which she dropped near my desk. Oh, and one guy bumped into me and said 'sorry'. And… Yeah, I think that's all."

"Rose," Jason sighed "You really need to come out of your shell. Let people see you, the real you! You'd have much more friends that way."

"The only friends I want to have are _true_ friends," Rose shrugged "Not my fault I'm not so out-going and friendly and stuff."

"Did you try being like that?"

"Jas," the girl frowned "Can we just, you know, drop it?"

"Rose, I just wanted to -"

"_Please_?" she pressed.

Jason sighed again, defeated. "Alright."

_'This day is horrible.'_ Rose thought, waving Jason goodbye and watching him hurry into his home. _'I want it to end.'_

She stood on the sidewalk for a while longer, staring at the pure white door that just closed after her friend, the last bit of conversation replaying in her head. Had she tried being more open and out-going? Of course. However, not only had she felt awful trying to seem so laid-back and friendly, but also had to suffer through all the odd glares sent her way.

And it was all because of one person.

-

She didn't even have to knock on the massive wooden door as they opened before her just as she raised her hand to rap on it. Startled ever so slightly, Rose took half a step backwards before steadying herself and sending Edward a wide, bright smile. Edward, to her surprise, smiled just as wide.

"Hello," he breathed out, looking like an excited child.

"Hi, Edward!" Rose greeted back "What's up?"

"Um… The sky?" Edward's smile faltered a bit as he blinked in confusion. Rose blinked once as well before laughing.

"I mean," she said between giggles "How are you doing? It's just a saying," she added seeing Edward's confused expression.

"Oh." He smiled back, unsurely "I'm…" the boy remembered a short dialogue from one of the books about manners the Inventor's read to him.

_'How do you do?'_

_'Fine, thank you. And you?'_

Instead, Edward chose to be honest, as always. "I've been waiting for you all day." He said in a voice that matched his excitement without a shade of complaint. "… And you?" he finished kind of awkwardly.

Rose had to stop herself from humming 'aaaw' under her breath. Edward was such a kid, he was so sweet and innocent! Staying out of town made him lonely and naïve, but it also didn't taint his innocence and pure heart in any way. It was a shame Rose was the only person to see it.

"Sorry I couldn't come earlier," she said apologizing "I had to wait for everyone in the house to go to bed before I could sneak out without any problems."

"It's okay," Edward uttered with a wide smile "You're here now."

"Yeah," Rose grinned, noticing that she still stood on the doorstep and Edward was blocking her way into the mansion. _'He's so excited that he forgot his manners,'_ she mused, finding herself not caring the least _'Poor kid, he really needs a friend.'_

"So," Rose spoke up, glancing up at the sky; it was almost pitch black, with the moon shining above along with many small silver dots she so loved to gaze at "It's night."

"Yes, it is." Edward agreed, staring at the girl in puzzlement.

"It's night," Rose repeated, the small sly smile tugging at her lips "It means that everyone in town's asleep. Because that's what people do when it's night."

"Not everyone, you're here instead." Edward pointed out innocently.

Rose let out a chuckle. "How about we make use of the emptiness down there and take a walk?"

Edward stilled. "I don't think it's a good -"

"Oh, Edward, there's no one there!" Rose said "I just… I think it would do you good. We don't have to circle every house, we can just… You know, walk around without anyone seeing us."

Edward stared at Rose with an uncertain expression. He saw her wide eyes, shining with enthusiasm and her wide smile. To him, she not only sounded, but also looked convincing. He could recall some of the things he'd been taught while living with the Boggs. People who were friends – and more than friends, like Kim and Jim – often went out together for walks. They walked around seemingly aimlessly and talked about the things friends usually talk about – things Edward had no idea about. And now he had the chance to finally find out.

"… Okay."

Rose's beaming grin made him not regret his decision.

"There's just one problem, though," the girl tugged at her sleeve sheepishly "It's been over a week since I moved here, so I'm not so very new around here, but I… I don't really know where we could go."

"Oh." Edward, who stepped out of the mansion and managed to close the door by slipping one blade in the metal knocker and tugging at it, paused.

"But hey, we can always improvise, right?" Rose was determined to go on that walk to give Edward a taste of a normal life. "We can go down there and… I'll think of something."

"I know where we can go."

Rose looked at Edward with wide eyes. He looked deep in thoughts, as if her was remembering something just then. The scissors at his side scraped against each other, making that strange sound again. His eyebrows were furrowed a little.

_"There was only one place I could go and just lie down and star__e at if for countless minutes."_

He could clearly bring to mind her words and the expression she'd worn when she said that.

_"An old, abandoned playground."_

Oh yes, Edward knew perfectly well where he could take Rose on their first walk together.

* * *

"Edward… It's…"

Juts then Rose realized that it wasn't the first time Edward made her speechless. She blinked once, twice and turned her head to face him, eyes wide and mouth open. "How… I thought…"

"When I was here last time, I ran and found this accidentally." Edward explained, shifting uneasily after seeing Rose's stunned expression. He didn't know if it was a good thing or not; beside that stuttering, she didn't say a word since he'd shown her the place. She was silent, and worst of all, she wasn't smiling. Edward definitely preferred when she was smiling.

Rose was finally able to snap out of her initial shock and gazed at the sight before her. Edward had taken her down the mountain but not exactly into town. They were standing in the outskirts, the identical houses of Suburbia a good distance away. The area was secluded, surrounded by unkempt and yellowish-green hedge. There was one big, bare tree in the middle with thick branches sticking out in every direction. Circling the tree, there were two sets of swings, a slide, a wide sandpit and a 4-seat carousel. Everything was old and a bit rusty, as if it wasn't used in years.

Rose was standing before an old, deserted playground.

"Edward," she breathed out, turning fully towards him "How did you… When did…Gosh, I don't know what to say, stupid of me."

"You mentioned a playground and I thought you'd like to see this one," Edward uttered, still unnerved by the lack of smile on her face. "… Did I do wrong?"

"God, Edward! This is _amazing_!" she cried and, without thinking, threw her arms around his neck.

Edward froze.

And as soon as she knew what exactly she was doing, Rose froze too. She tentatively withdrawn her arms and took a step back, muttering a 'sorry' to the ground. Feeling a wild blush sprouting on her whole face, Rose looked up at Edward and tried to hide her embarrassment by grinning widely.

Edward was still as a statue after she'd touched him. She _hugged_ him. No one hugged him… but Kim. The boy would never forget how that simple gesture made him feel – and Rose had just reminded him of it again. He was so surprised when she hugged him that he almost cut her by raising his arms out of instinct. He stopped himself just in time.

It lasted not more than a second, but Edward stood still even after she'd pulled away, staring into space with wide, startled eyes. It was when he saw Rose grin at him with eagerness did he blink and the corners of his lips twitched upwards. Finally, she smiled.

Without a word, Rose made her way to the swings and sat down on one of them. When Edward didn't move from his spot, she chuckled and waved.

"Come on, the other one's free," she said, smiling as he shuffled awkwardly before striding up to her slowly and, careful with his hands, sat down next to her on the other swing.

"Edward," Rose began "I… I had no idea about this place… And, well…" she smiled at him softly, all the excitement gone from her eyes. She looked peaceful and melancholic, but not sad. "Thanks for showing me this. This town has just became more bearable…"

Her greenish-brown eyes locked with his, a small smile on her pale lips "…thanks to you."

* * *

Jason whistled as his dog ran a bit too far away from him. The German shepherd didn't listen to his master's call and continued throttling past the last house and down the road Jason had never used before.

"Bandit! Hey, c'mon boy!" Jason called, but the dog turned suddenly and began to run towards some tall, unkempt hedge. Bandit sniffed the hedge before leaping straight into it, disappearing from sight. Jason rolled his eyes at the silly pet, but paused his walk suddenly when he heard barking. Bandit barked twice before he fell silent all of a sudden.

"Bandit!" the boy shouted, but the dog didn't show up. Growing nervous, Jason jogged to the hedge and reached out to push the branches aside. He bent down and carefully walked through the hedge.

* * *

_**A**__: Uh oh, a Cliffhanger! What will happen next? Even _I_ don't know that! We all have to wait and see, I guess._

_I hate to repeat myself, but I trust you all know that Reviews are greatly appreciate, right? :) So, leave one if you liked the Chapter! …Please?_

_PS. Happy Polish Independence Day, everyone xD_


	6. Rose's Story

_As always, shout out to the lovely, loyal, remarkable Reviewers, who always take their time and tell me what they think. Those are _xLoveShot_, _Katt the Pirate_, _Volital_, _Jen_, _Scissor-Paws_, _AnimeRANDOMNESS_ and _WrathoftheElite_ (two reviews at once, wow!), thank you so very much._

* * *

**Chapter Six: ****Rose's Story**

_"…thanks to you."_

Edward could only stare at Rose's profile as she gazed forward with a faraway look on her face. The small smile was long gone, replaced by an odd expression, thoughtful and maybe sad, to some extend. She was swinging back and forth slightly.

_"__This town has just became more bearable…"_

She had said that with a smile. She had looked at him with gratitude and with a smile on her face.

_"Thanks to you."_

He'd done something right. He had shown her the place which he had stumbled upon accidentally all those years ago when he'd ran from the angry people after hurting Kevin. It's a wonder he still could remember it. But now… Did he just made Rose happy? If she was happy, then why wasn't she smiling? Why was she looking so sad?

"Rose?"

Rose blinked, lifting her head to look at the boy next to her. "Oh, I'm sorry. I…"

"You tend to do that often," Edward remarked and Rose stared at him. Those words sounded awfully familiar… _'Of course, I said the same thing when I… It was our first proper meeting…' _she recalled, realizing that he had remembered that. He seemed to pay close attention to whatever she had said…

"Rose?" he repeated shyly.

"Yes?"

"If you're happy…" Edward shifted slightly in his seat "Then why aren't you smiling?"

The day had been the worst one since Rose arrived in the Suburbia, that was for sure. Trevor's words had been ringing in her head the whole day, making her unable to focus on anything else.

_"Why are you still like _that_?"_

Indeed.

She couldn't take it anymore. She had to tell somebody. Rose took a calming breath and began talking, feeling the words spilling out of her mouth like water.

"Back when I was a kid, we used to live in a big city, so different than this one," Rose lowered her gaze to the ground. Edward nodded beside her, already knowing that "My parents, they were wealthy people, but they had to work hard to earn so much money. My brother was born, and so they had to work more, for the new member of the family. Three years after him, I was born. So my parents worked harder."

As her gaze was directed downwards, Edward's never left her face. He felt awfully uncomfortable on the swing, his sharp fingers positioned safely and pointing at the ground, next to Rose, who was uncharacteristically gloomy. He preferred when she smiled, laughed and talked about anything that came to her mind. Not only was it easy enough to deal with, but she often made him smile too.

However, it seemed that she wouldn't smile that night at all. She was talking about something which made her sad and, unlike the last time, she wouldn't stop abruptly and change the topic.

"I was 7 when my younger brother was born," she continued, and Edward nodded once again; he knew about her siblings. "But my older brother, Trevor… He…"

-

_Seven-year-old Rose stood outside the living room, clutching a small plush kitten to her chest while listening to the voices that were coming from the inside. Her father screamed, her mother screamed back, her little brother Denis cried and wailed. Closing her eyes shut, Rose turned to leave quietly, wanting to lock herself in her room upstairs, wishing to drown the voices, lock herself away and never have to hear those awful things her parents shouted at each other…_

_Rose climbed the eighteen steps up when ten-year-old Trevor blocked her path. She would never forget the look on his face; he was furious, far more than a normal 10-year-old boy should be. She would never forget his eyes glaring into hers teary ones._

_"It's all _your_ fault," he hissed before his hands made contact with her shoulders._

_His narrowed, blazing eyes were the last thing Rose saw before falling down the steps, hitting the floor a second later, unconscious._

-

"He seemed to blame me for everything. Our parents fought a lot after I was born, and then continued to argue on a regular basis after Denis entered the scene. It was horrible."

-

_Rose stood in the doorway to her room, eyes wide with shock. The Barbie doll collection that made her so proud laid on the floor before her, heads, arms, legs and torsos detached from each other, sprawled everywhere. Her favorite doll, the one with the exact same hair color as Rose's, was also shred into pieces, her head skewered on a pair of scissors._

_Eyes filling with tears, Rose turned around to see Trevor glaring at her from his room which was __oppositely to hers. The moment their eyes locked, the boy shut his door close._

_Downstairs, Denis began to cry again and a few seconds later, a woman's frustrated yell rang through the house._

-

"I had no idea what had I done to make him so angry. Now when I think about it, I guess he was angry not at me, but at our parents. Now I know that I hadn't done anything wrong, but then I… I sometimes thought that Trevor hated me because I was _born_."

There was no way stopping it now; Rose was talking about the thing that was bothering the most, that one particularly tender spot on her soul which made her unable to smile. She had never, ever told any of this to anyone. It was her secret, something she desperately tried to bury in her heart and forget about. But that day showed that, although there was a long-lasting peace between her and her brother, Rose sometimes couldn't look at Trevor without anger and sorrow.

Maybe, if she would just get this off her chest… Maybe…

"He… Trevor, I mean… Did many mean things to me when we were kids. It was mainly minor things like making a mess in my room, destroying my toys, ripping pages from my books… Every time our parents had had an argument, he'd let out his frustration on me. The bigger and longer the argument, the bigger and more painful the," Rose hesitated "_punishment_."

Edward stared at the girl's face with wide eyes. When she didn't continue for a while, he decided to ask the first question that had popped out, "Why did your parents fight so much?"

"As I said, they both were very busy people. They had well-paid, but also responsible jobs and three children to take care of. They were always busy and stressed out and their anxiety pretty much always ended up a fight."

Edward, although not fully grasping the situation she'd presented, mouthed a silent 'oh'.

"I was afraid to tell my parents about the things Trevor was doing to me, because I knew they'd only fight more. So I kept quiet. But one day, when I was ten and Trevor was thirteen, I heard someone at school saying that he and his friends were going to corner me after class. It might have been just a rumor, but I was scared nonetheless. So I… ran away."

"Ran away?" the scissor-handed boy cocked his head a bit. "To where?"

Rose smiled, but it wasn't the smile Edward came to like so much. It was sad and thoughtful. And her eyes, they began to shimmer dangerously.

"It was an old, deserted playground." She looked at him "Just like this one."

-

_"I will not take it anymore," 10-year-old Rose let out a soft sob "I cannot take it anymore."_

_She was running and walking for the past half an hour and already began to feel tired. She walked across the park along a tall green shrubbery, when something caught her eye. Looking around, the girl made sure no one was near before diving into the bush, pushing the branches aside to make way. She landed on the other side_

_The eerie, mysterious and magical aura surrounded Rose as she stared at the old, slightly rusty and unused swings, sandpit and slides with wide eyes._

-

"I was so afraid of what Trevor and his friends would do to me that I staid there for the night. I thought I'd die from cold the next morning," Rose let out a quiet snort "I remember the last though before I fell asleep under one of the slides. I wondered if they were even looking for me."

Silence prevailed for a while longer than usual and Edward got even more tense. Was she expecting him to say something? Comfort her? Why was she telling him all that? The boy could not understand her intentions; he had no idea that she wasn't expecting anything else but to be heard out. Rose was never good at deciphering people's feelings, even the most obvious ones, but right then and there she was even more blinded by her selfish need of talking and being heard.

"It was the next day that I met Jason, my first and only friend. I was sitting on a swing when he showed up. The day he told me we were friends was one of the most happy days in my life. Anyway, it turned out that my parents did search for me and, after two days of my absence, Jason told his mother about me, and she went to the police. After they found me and brought me back home, my parents swore to change. They fought less and instead focused their attention on us. Trevor stopped bothering me and we lived in peace for a while. There was a short episode when my parents nearly got divorced, but decided to try straighten things up and move to a much smaller, less hectic place – here." The girl looked up "And here I am."

"Your brother, did he… apologize?" for Edward, that seemed like a rational thing to do.

"He did, but after our parents started fighting again. We both were more mature and he sounded like he truly regretted all that. And I forgave him, I think. It's just… Sometimes, I can't…" her eyes began to shimmer oddly again as she struggled to get a simple sentence out "I can't help but… Think of all the things… Remember all the pain… Remember how he looked at me… Hated me… For reasons I did not know… It was…"

All of a sudden, Rose shot up from the swing. She stood straight, her left hand covering her eyes while the other rested at her side, clenched into a fist. She wasn't planning on crying, but she was dangerously close to it.

Edward jerked at her sudden movement, but then slowly rose from the swing as well. He stood next to the girl, fidgeting and with a panicked look on his scarred face. _'What to do, what to do?'_ The blades at his side scraped against each other as Edward tried to think of a solution.

While spending time with the Boggs, Edward had the chance to learn a bit about humans and their complex, twisted nature. He remembered Kim who gazed at him with distress, the colorful Christmas tree in the background. She told him to do something then. What was it? Oh, yes.

_"Hug me."_

But Edward couldn't, he had showed her his hands. He could never touch Kim, he would have hurt her, and hurting her was unthinkable. Yet, she had come closer to him and hugged him gently and he hugged back, his hands at a safe distance away from her figure, which was so warm…

Was Rose as warm as Kim had been?

"I… I'm so sorry, Edward," Rose's voice was muffled by her hand "I shouldn't… I mean, I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, it's just that… Gosh, I'm _so_ sorry!"

Her hand fell to her side and Rose looked at Edward with her light, slightly moistened hazel eyes. Edward froze completely.

_"Hug me."_

If the boy hadn't been looking at Rose's face and seen that her lips didn't move, he would thought she'd said that. It was Kim's voice that rung in his head, again. He stepped forward unsurely, his sharp fingers twitching. Should he…?

Rose, seeing him approach her ever so carefully, helped make up his mind. She made half a step towards him and cautiously put her arms around his torso. She buried her head in his shoulder and felt Edward tensing further under her touch. She hugged him lightly, making sure not to squeeze the air out of him, and was about to pull back when he hadn't respond. But then, she felt his upped arms circling around her shoulders and his head resting atop hers.

Rose squeezed her eyes shut. A random thought hit her, _'Edward is such an amazing human being.'_ Right after that she wondered briefly if he even _was_ a human being – probably not, though it didn't matter the slightest. He might have been _created_ by someone, not born, but he had feelings like any other person.

And he was her friend.

It lasted not more than two or three seconds, when suddenly the bushes behind them rustled and the two jumped away from each other abruptly. Rose let out a hiss when one of Edward's fingers cut through the fabric of her jacket and shirt and left a shallow cut on her upper arm. It stung a bit, but no real harm was done.

Edward gasped loudly, but before he could start apologizing, the girl placed her hand on his lips and silenced him. The bushes moved once again and a big German shepherd jumped out. Rose would have shrieked, but fortunately she'd recognized the red band around his neck just in time.

"Bandit!" she whispered and the dog ran up to her, wagging his tail enthusiastically. "What are you doing here, boy?"

She turned to Edward and motioned him to be quiet as she removed her hand from his mouth. The dog barked twice, making Edward jump. Rose quickly started petting the animal's head to calm Bandit down.

"_Bandit!_"

The voice made Rose release a breathless gasp. "It's Jason!" she said quietly, looking at Edward with wide eyes "We have to get out of here! Now!"

* * *

"Bandit!" Jason reached the bushes his dog disappeared in and pushed them aside. He tumbled slightly but caught his footing and straightened up, already on the other side of the hedge. His dog was standing in the middle of a playground Jason had no idea about, wagging his tail innocently.

"Bandit, what the hell are you doing?" Jason rolled his eyes as his dog turned to him and jogged at his side "Oh, so _now_ you're listening to me, huh?" he bent down to scratch the annoying animal behind the ears.

Good thing he did so, or else he'd catch a glimpse of gleaming blades that disappeared in the bushes the same moment Jason chose to look up.

* * *

It was a long day, Rose mused as she walked up to the front door of her house. She checked her watch again – a little past eleven PM – and carefully turned the door knob, trying to make as little sounds as possible. She would never understand the philosophy of the town she was stuck in (how could these people not lock their doors for the night?!), but she was glad her parents were following the rest nonetheless. If she wasn't mistaken, her parents would be fast asleep by now, Denis locked in his room either sleeping or playing videogames with the volume turned off so that he wouldn't wake the adults up and Trevor locked up in his room doing God knows what or at a party. Either way, the hall should be clear.

"I do believe you have a very good excuse as of why you were out at this hour, Rose."

Three shots out of four was a good enough score; too bad the mistake concerned Mrs. Wheeler.

"Oh, mom! Uh, I…" her mind went blank in a second, so she desperately pulled out the oldest of her lies "I'm so sorry, but you know… Jason and I had a lot catching up to do, and… Sorry! It won't happen again!"

That sounded pretty convincing in Rose's opinion and she felt immense relief to see her mother's face softening slightly.

"With Jason, huh…" the woman's expression was thoughtful "Strange, I can clearly recall it when Jason _called_ you mere 10 or 15 minutes ago." She looked at her daughter, who reddened under her piercing gaze. "Unless we're talking about two _different_ Jason's…"

Rose cringed inwardly. The tone of her mother's voice sounded frighteningly similar to other women's in Suburbia, high pitched, overly sweet and so fake.

"Mom, I…" but what could she say? Her mother was standing in the middle of the hall, wearing her pastel orange robe, hands on her hips. Waiting for a decent explanation.

_'Oh mom, I was with a new friend, his name is Edward. He's really nice, kind, sweet, cute and loveable! He's such a great friend, I tell you. By the way, he's got scissors as hands that create wonders out of a simple hedge. You'd love him.'_

It sounded so ridiculous Rose had to bit on her lower lip in order to refrain herself from bursting with laughter. Instead, she swallowed and wondered what should she do to get out of the mess.

"Yes?" Mrs. Wheeler pressed, looking impressively intimidating. No wonder, really; she hadn't been a teacher at High School for a good few years for nothing. Intimidating students was her way of getting out of there alive.

"Mom, I really –"

"_Mom!_"

Rose couldn't believe it. She whirled around and saw Trevor in the doorway, his eyes wide and his mouth open.

"Trevor?" Mrs. Wheeler blinked before her eyes narrowed further "Can you two tell me what's going _on_?!"

The boy sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping visibly. "Okay, you caught us. I'll confess."

Rose stared at her brother, speechless. He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, with a light jacket covering it. He looked a bit out of breath and rumpled, but at the same time oddly relaxed and cool, leaning against the door frame and looking at Mrs. Wheeler with an apologetic gaze.

"Misty, a friend of my friend's cousin, invited me to a birthday party at her house, tonight at nine. I know I was supposed to stay and study, but I just couldn't say 'no' to such a cute girl. And I wanted Rose to meet a few cool people and show her how to have fun." His eyes traveled to Rose's wide ones before returning to counter the suspicious gaze of their mother with his sheepish one. "But then she said she's having a headache, so I wanted to return her safely before going back, but now that we've been caught, I guess I'll go right up and go to bed instead."

Rose stood still between Mrs. Wheeler and Trevor, having no idea what to do. As her brother sent her another brief glance, she snapped out of her shock and faced the woman with a guilty expression.

"Mom, I'm really sorry." She uttered in a quiet voice, trying to sound genuine "I just wanted to… I don't know what was I thinking. I…"

Mrs. Wheeler was looking at her two children, feeling the anger vanish, replaced by relief and joy. She even smiled a bit. Those two were finally getting along…

"You're off the hook this time, but let me catch you one more time and you'll be in much more trouble, you two!" Mrs. Wheeler crossed her arms in front of her and watched as Trevor nodded and nudged Rose, who was still standing straight as a board. She blinked and the two walked past their mother, muttering 'good night' and went up the stairs.

"What a close call, huh?" Trevor said as they stopped in front of the door to his room.

"Y-yeah…" Rose shifted in her place, much like Edward when he was uncomfortable.

"Well, I just hope you weren't out doing some weird stuff, or else I'd be in trouble for covering for you, you know." He grinned.

"No, I was just –"

"Hey, it's okay. Just try not to get caught next time." Trevor hesitated, putting his hand on the door knob. "Listen, I…" He stopped.

Rose felt her eyes water again. She bit on her lower lip to prevent herself from crying. The siblings stood silent for a moment, not knowing what to do.

"I forgave you, you know," the girl began finally "All those years ago. I know it wasn't about me. We grew up and understand things better. And I'm… I'm sorry for today. I was feeling…"

"Bitchy?" Trevor offered with a smirk.

Rose smiled. "Yeah, definitely."

"So," Trevor grinned at his sister "Are we one-hundred percent cool?"

She smiled back. "Definitely."

"Good," he nodded and opened the door. Rose caught a glimpse of an open window.

"Hey," she called after him. Trevor looked at her through his shoulder. "Were you _really_ at some party?"

His grin turned devilish and eyes gleamed. "I jumped out the window as soon as I heard the alarm downstairs. Good thing my room's on the first floor, huh?"

Rose giggled. "You're crazy." She stated.

"The things I do for my lil' sis." The boy shot her one last grin before shutting the door behind him gently.

_'It's true, then,'_ Rose mused as she laid in her bed, slowly loosing consciousness _'When you hit the bottom, you can only go up.'_

* * *

_**A**__: I deeply apologize for it and for all the Rose-centrism, but I felt like it'd be a good idea to finally reveal her story. It might be too soon, but I wanted to get it out of the way. I'll try to keep away from any angst in the future; this is supposed to be light-hearted and fun!_

_Please leave a Review if you have the time. I live off of those. And the story does, too. :)_


	7. Making Friends

_The last chapter of year 2008 is dedicated to those, who have Reviewed the last part __and made me a very happy person :) Those people are:_

xLoveShot_, _Volital_, _WrathoftheElite_, _Katt the Pirate_, _Wierdo-Lover_, _Nala162024_, _balcklace-and-roses_, _Hari-chan15_, _IvoryAria_, _Jen_ and _Scilla E.

_Thank you all! I hope you'll continue dropping me comments – I enjoy them immensely._

_I'd also like to wish all of you, Reviewers and Silent Readers, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!_

* * *

**Chapter Seven: ****Making Friends**

Several days passed. Rose was sitting at the very back of the classroom, listening to her Chemistry teacher's lecture. It was Tuesday, still the beginning of the week. The amount of school work was gradually increasing, which meant little time for herself… and even less time for her visits at the manor. For the past few days, Rose had seen Edward only once and it was very brief; she'd told him not to worry and wait patiently. She would come, she always had.

Something the teacher said made Rose snap into reality suddenly. Something about pair work and a project. She panicked slightly. She still hadn't met any people, and she feared that she'd be left alone while everyone else picked their partners. On the other hand, it could be better – Rose could always ask Trevor for help, now that the two lived in perfect harmony. She was glad for that. Really, really glad.

"Pair number seven, Wheeler and Andrews, raise your hands!"

Rose blinked, raising her hand and looking around questioningly. A girl in the second row, third seat also raised her hand. Rose tried to recall her name, but it was hard while not seeing her face. The only feature visible from her seat were shoulder length curly dark blonde hair. She was sure she'd never spoken a word with her. She had hardly spoken to anyone. Except for Jason, who sometimes passed her by in the hall, but he was usually surrounded by some guys from his basketball team.

The teacher nodded and returned to pairing up the students. Rose was looking at the Andrews girls' back, trying to remember her name or at least recall what she looked like. She failed terribly.

Soon, the bell rang, announcing lunch break, and Rose stood up. Before she had the chance to do anything else, however, the girl she was paired up with came up to her. Now Rose had the chance to get a good look at her; beside the curly dark blonde hair, she had light brown eyes, tanned skin and an oval face. She looked friendly enough, though the first look she gave Rose made her frown ever so slightly.

"You're Rose Wheeler, right?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Yeah," Rose said, gathering her things and putting them in her backpack "So, we're stuck together, huh," she offered her new chemistry partner a small smile.

"So it would seem," the Andrews girl nodded slowly. "Are you any good in chemistry?"

"Well," Rose thought for a moment if she's been mistaken assuming the girl was friendly "I suppose I'm pretty average… I mean, I know what's it all about, but sometimes I just –"

"What a relief," Andrews sighed "I suck at it. Seriously."

This brought a small grin to Rose's face. "Good thing you have me now, um…"

"Nina." The girl supplied, smiling back. "I'm pretty sure I should feel a tad offended by the fact that you didn't know your partner's name," she smirked playfully "but I think I'll let it pass _this time_."

Rose let out a short laugh. "Thank you very much, Nina. You are too kind."

Nina chuckled. "So, what do you say we start with the project today at lunch? And by start I mean eat in peace and get to know each other a little."

"Yeah, _that_ kind of start sounds good enough."

* * *

Rose and Nina sat together, chatting and consuming their food as they planned. It turned out that they have a lot in common; they both enjoy a good book once in a while, like taking long walks to clear their minds and prefer hot chocolate over a cup of coffee. It also turned out that Nina hadn't had many friends at school and was eating, walking and working alone. As the two girls entered the cafeteria, Rose had noticed that some people sitting by the door cast an odd glance at Nina, but quickly looked away, as uninterested as before. Nina – pretending or not, Rose did not know – seemed not to notice and showed her the way to the table the blonde's been always using.

The girls had just done discussing their favorite singers (Nina's was Kelly Clarkson, while Rose picked Pink), when someone's voice made them turn in the person's direction.

"Hey, Rose!"

It was Jason, along with three other boys from the basketball team. Rose sent him a grin and waved shortly. He in turn flashed her a charming smile and walked away to join the rest of his friends at a table on the other end of the cafeteria.

"So," Rose turned her attention back to Nina "Where do you -"

She stopped short when she noticed her chemistry partner's expression as the blonde gazed at Jason's back. It was a strange gaze, so different from the one other girls had thrown at him as he passed. It was not full of curiosity, coy or flirtatious. It was a blank gaze at first, then a frown married her features. For half a second it turned into a hateful glare, but then Nina faced Rose and the look was gone.

"So, where do you live?" the blonde asked casually, almost too casually. Rose blinked.

"I was about to ask you that, but you -"

"Well, I live not too far away from school, just two streets away. If you want, we can meet in front of school and I'll take you to my place. I'm an only child, no siblings. Of course, if you want, we can go to your house. I'm fine with both options."

Rose stared at Nina for a few seconds, silent. Nina too seemed to be surprised at her own outburst. She tried to hide it by lifting the can of soda to her lips and taking a big gulp.

"Well?"

"Oh," Rose looked down at her tray "Well, I'm fine with both options, too. I have two brothers, though." She added as an afterthought.

"So it's my place. How does Friday sound? Around 4 or 5?"

Rose agreed and the two girls chatted for a while, the atmosphere back to normal, though the brunette noticed with a hint of confusion that Nina refused to look at her, choosing to stare over Rose's shoulder or simply scrutinize her sandwich. It was when Jason and his friends left the cafeteria did Nina actually look Rose in the eye.

"So…" she drawled, gulping down the last bite of her lunch "How do you know Jason Carter?" The tone of her voice was neutral.

"We used to be best friends back in Detroit. We've known each other for three years before he had to move here. And, well, we got reunited when I moved here as well." Rose smiled, eyeing Nina curiously "Do you know him?"

Nina immediately lowered her gaze. For a moment she looked like she would get up and leave without a word, making Rose wonder if her question was inappropriate and, when she came to the conclusion that it most certainly wasn't, speculate what could have caused such a reaction. Jason had changed from a lean, almost freakishly tall thirteen year old boy into a fine-looking young man, Rose had to admit. She also wasn't blind to all the stares some girls directed at him. Nina however, looked like she wasn't too fond of Jason, and even that was putting it lightly.

After some time, the blonde girl shrugged, lifting her gaze to look at the farthest corner of the cafeteria. "He's a good player. A star of the basketball team." she said, crumpling the wrapper with her fist. Rose watched with wide eyes as Nina got up from the table and gathered her things. "Ready to go?"

"Y-yeah," Rose followed quickly, puzzled. She decided against questioning her chemistry partner further; it looked like the topic wasn't the most pleasant, whatever the reason. Nina could grow uncomfortable and annoyed.

And Rose didn't want to annoy a person that was her lab partner and – what's far more important – a potential friend.

* * *

The cold late-October air made Rose shudder as she closed the front door to her house. She was on her way to Nina's house, her chemistry book, notes and an extra couple of pages printed from the Internet in her backpack. She also managed to persuade Trevor to borrow her his old chemistry textbooks. She smiled to herself suddenly. She really felt like she'd forgiven and forgotten. This time, it was real.

Rose checked her watch and noted with some surprise that she had much more time than she'd thought. The walk from her house to Nina's usually took about 15 to 20 minutes, half an hour if it was a stroll. Rose grinned, having a pretty good idea about what to do with the time. Nina's house was on the East side of the town. Rose didn't hesitate when she turned right; facing the mansion.

It's been too long since she'd last saw Edward.

Rose climbed the front steps and hesitated before opening the door without knocking. If Edward was up in the attic – as he always was – he wouldn't hear her knocking, so it was useless to do so.

The inside of the mansion was just like its' outside; dark, eerie and mysterious. The hall was spacious and lit only by the sunlight that poured into the rooms through the windows. Rose preferred to visit the inside of the mansion only during day, when she could see at least glimpses of solid objects; after sunset, the whole castle-like building drowned in darkness. Beside the attic, of course. The attic with the hole in the roof, where everything was illuminated by the moonlight. Scary and romantic at the same time.

"Edward. I'm here," Rose called out loudly as she climbed the steps and was few feet away from the attic. "Are you there?"

Only six steps were left until she'd reach the attic when suddenly Edward appeared at the top, seemingly walking out of a shadow. Rose startled slightly, still not used to the way he always popped out of thin air before her without a warning.

"Rose!" Edward cried out when he saw her jump. "I'm sorry!"

"Hello, Edward," Rose climbed the remaining steps and stood next to the scissor-handed boy "How are you?"

"Um," Edward shifted in his place "Good. I think." He took in her appearance carefully. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes," Rose blinked, surprised at the question. "I'm sorry I hadn't come sooner. I was really busy with school, they're giving us a hard time."

"It's okay." Edward said timidly, staring at her curiously. "I'm glad you came."

"I'm glad, too," Rose grinned, adjusting her backpack. Her smile faltered "Um, but I don't have much time now. I just came to see if you're okay and… You know, I just wanted to talk to you for a while."

"Oh." The boy said simply "You're busy?"

"Yes, see, I have to do a project with a friend and the sooner we'll have it done, the better." She explained "I'm not supposed to be here now, but," she winked playfully "what the heck."

"Will you be in trouble?" Edward recalled when she told him about the time her mother had caught Rose when she came home late after seeing him. He wouldn't want to get her in trouble again.

And that when he remembered something.

…_suddenly the bushes behind them rustled and the two jumped away from each other abruptly. Rose let out a hiss when one of Edward's fingers cut through the fabric of her jacket and shirt and left a shallow cut on her upper arm…_

"How is –"

"What?" Rose looked up to meet Edward's gaze, who in turn lowered his to the dusty floor.

"Y-your arm…" he stuttered.

"My… _Ah_!" Rose exclaimed, remembering. "It's all tied up and almost healed completely. Hey," she put a hand on his shoulder, making Edward look at her with wide eyes "Don't worry about that, okay? It was an accident, and it's just a scratch."

Edward stared at the girl, felt her hand on his shoulder, _again_. He hurt her, intentionally or not. He cut her and made her bleed. And she was still there, with him, her hand touching him, _her hand was so warm_. Hesitantly, his eyes went further from her arm to her shoulder and neck, and finally landed on her face. She was looking at him, straight into his eyes. The light was dim, and her hazel eyes looked dark brown. They were glittering softly and were very warm. The moment he looked her in the eyes, Edward felt the same warmth spreading all over his body, from the chest area in every direction possible.

As soon as the first wave of heat crashed against his torso and limbs, Rose smiled at him.

"Promise me you won't think about it anymore." She said.

"Okay…" Edward said unsurely, but only because that's what she wanted to hear, apparently. He'd done the right thing and was rewarded by a bright grin.

The next wave of warmth seemed to be more powerful than the first one. Edward felt his own lips stretching in a smile.

"Uh, I'm really sorry," the grin on Rose's face faded slowly as her eyes slid from his and to the ground "I have to go now. You can… I mean, can you, um… Walk me to the door?"

_'What in the _world_ made me say _that_?'_

"Yes, of course," Edward blinked and waited until a flustered Rose walked down the stairs before him. In silence they made their way to the front door and Rose reached out for the hoop on the door that worked as a doorknob when a bladed finger went through the metal hoop and pulled, opening the door for her. The girl blinked and turned to Edward with a small, almost shy smile.

"Thank you," she muttered and stepped outside. She twirled around and faced him with a smile "Well, see you next time."

"When will you come again?"

Rose froze. She was about to look at him through her shoulder and say 'oh, I don't know; whenever I have the time' or something similar to that. However, when her eyes met his, those glinting black pools, and saw the raw emotions behind them… She felt that sensation again. That strange, overpowering sensation of helplessness. She needed to see him soon, she _wanted_ to. She opened her mouth, but the words that came out didn't sound like the ones she had planned to use.

"Tomorrow. I'll come tomorrow around evening."

The shock at the firm statement she'd just let out vanished without a trace when Rose saw the abrupt transformation on Edward's face. The mixture of sadness, hope and yearning changed. His eyes brightened tenfold, emitting joy, a trace of relief, trust and pure bliss.

It clenched her heart.

"Thank you."

Rose couldn't muster another word, she just nodded, gave him a shaky smile and turned around, walking away in a haste. She went through the iron gate and, after a second of hesitation, chose to look up at the front door.

He was still standing there, gazing after her.

This time she didn't even try to smile.

Walking down the hill, Rose clutched the strap of her backpack. She felt out of it. Why was Edward always making her feel like a better person? Such a simple gesture like touching one's shoulder or smiling, or visiting one another. It was what friends did all the time, wasn't it? So why was Edward making such a big deal out of it? After a moment of walking in the chilly air, Rose's rational side kicked in. Edward was stuck in the huge mansion all alone for God knows how many years. He had very little friends. Such experience taught him never to take anything for granted.

And that made him unique, remarkable. Awesome.

* * *

Jason was heading home from an exceptionally tiring basketball practice. He was crossing the street when he noticed a girl jogging down the hill on top of which the freaky mansion was situated. He recognized the faded gray jacket and dark brown hair that was put in a messy ponytail. The boy grinned and was about to call out her name, when he noticed the expression on Rose's face. She looked like her mind was miles away from reality, with rosy cheeks, a small, thoughtful smile on her lips and shining, misty eyes.

Jason followed her with his eyes until she took a turn to the left and disappeared behind the row identical houses. A frown making its' way on his sweaty face, his eyes traveled back to the hill and up, landing on the looming, intimidating castle.

Just what was Rose doing in a place like that?

* * *

_**A**__: MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!_


	8. Close Call

_For some reason I couldn't reply to all of your Reviews; I apologize. I just want to let you know how much I appreciate each and every comment you leave behind.__ Even if it's a few words long, it's still a major motivation. So, I want to thank the following people, who took a few seconds of their time and let me know what they think:_

Nala162024_, _WrathoftheElite_, _wierdo-lover_, _Scilla E_., _xLoveShot_, _Hari-chan15_, _Katt the Pirate_, _Volital_, _balcklace-and-roses_ and_ My-Lover-Gren-Gren

_For the who-knows-who-cares time, THANK YOU!_

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Close Call**

"We're leaving!"

Rose looked up from the book she was reading, situated comfortably in a big armchair in the corner of the living room. "What?"

Her mother sighed exasperatedly. "Rose, we've been talking about this for a while now. Your father and I are going out tonight with some friends and you're staying with Denis."

"_I'm_ staying with Denis?" the book slid off her knees as Rose straightened herself, looking ready to pounce. "What about Trevor? Can't he stay instead?"

That very instant her older brother flew down the stairs and crossed the hall quickly, throwing on a jacket, talking on the cell phone and combing his hair with his fingers at the same time. He took a second to pause before the living room.

"Have fun, mom and dad. You too, Rose."

Rose stood up, mouth open and ready to protest fiercely, but a blink was more than enough for Trevor to disappear.

"Well then," Mrs. Wheeler fixed her hair and for a moment Rose wished her own hair – bearing the same dark, chocolate-like hue as her mothers' – would be so obedient and form delicate, shiny waves just like her mother had done. The girl shook her head mentally, forcing herself to focus on the current topic as Mrs. Wheeler continued, "I think that settles it. Trevor's out, you're here. Behave."

"But mom!" Rose refused to give up that easily. Trying hard not to glare at her mother, who was putting on her cream colored gloves and scarf, she searched for arguments. "Denis is old enough! He can stay home alone for a short while, right?"

"And you don't want to stay with him because…?" Mrs. Wheeler threw her daughter a steely gaze.

"Because," Rose didn't hesitate to lie "I wanted to go to Nina's tonight and watch a movie together. Or something."

She cringed inwardly. Mrs. Wheeler narrowed her eyes.

"Call Nina and tell her you'll come tomorrow, then. Or let her come over to your house. That way you'll watch the movie and take care of your brother."

There was no way getting out of that, Rose mused. Still, she tried again. This time, she used what she thought was a powerful weapon. "Jason asked me if I wanted to grab a hot chocolate with him sometimes. And I want to, like, today."

Mrs. Wheeler stared at her reflection in the hall mirror, fixing her hair again and applying a final touch of make-up. She hummed. "You can always make hot chocolate at home. Invite Jason over."

That sounded too much like an order. Rose let out a sigh. "I'll call him later." She was defeated.

"Great!" Mr. Wheeler came out of the parents' bedroom, wearing a nice black tuxedo and fixing his tie "Well, are you ready yet?"

"Almost." His wife put on a gold necklace and matching gold earrings. "Ready." She announced.

"Just where exactly _are _you going dressed up like _that_?" Rose crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe with a scowl. She was fuming silently.

"To a restaurant," her father shrugged.

"One of the most exclusive French restaurants I've ever been to!" Mrs. Wheeler filled in "And it's so close from here, too!"

"Sounds like fun." Rose rolled her eyes.

"Now, don't be so sarcastic, Rose!" her mother scolded. "Behave."

"And have fun, sweetheart," her father winked, letting his wife exit the house before shutting the door behind him. Rose didn't move until she heard the engine starting and the car left the driveway, the sound finally melting away as her parents drove away God knows where. Only then did she climb the stairs and checked on her brother, who was lying in bed, sleeping. It was only around 7 pm, but Denis had caught a cold and slept almost all the time for the past two days.

Rose considered. She didn't remember making any promises to her parents about staying at home _all evening_. She did remember, however, promising to visit a certain scissor-handed boy that was her friend. Her parents were out and it was likely they'll return late – very late even. As for Trevor, well, he had covered for her once, he will surely do that again in case of an emergency. Besides, he was at a party and Trevor usually came back from parties in early morning hours.

Parents out. Trevor out. Denis asleep, which was pretty much out too. What was stopping her? Absolutely nothing.

Rose scribbled a short note for her younger brother in case he'd wake up when she was outside the house. She wrote that she went grocery shopping (there was no way Denis would know the fridge was full and no milk and eggs were missing), put it on top of his nightstand and quietly came out of his room. She raced to her own room and changed her worn out, baggy sweater for a light blue T-shirt with navy and purple flowers printed on it. She took a minute in the bathroom to comb her hair, then decided it's useless and put it in a ponytail, as always. Not really thinking about it, Rose reached out and grabbed a small bottle of her favorite perfumes and put them on.

Rose paused, staring at her reflection in the bathroom. _'What am I doing?'_ she questioned herself. She almost never used her perfumes, unless it was a really good cause, like a family meeting, official dinner or party.

Putting the bottle back on the shelf, Rose pretended that it didn't happen. Nodding at the mirror, she came out of the bathroom and flew down the stairs. Rose was about to put on her jacket when all of a sudden, the doorbell rang. Startled, she released the jacket from her grasp and let it fall to the floor. She stood motionless in the hall, brought out of her reverie as the doorbell rang again. In one fluid motion, she picked up and hung the jacket back on its' place and opened the door.

"Hey there," Jason greeted with a grin, holding a paper bag in his hands "Thought a cup of your favorite drink would do you good."

"Jason!" Rose cried out, stunned. Only half-aware of what she's doing, she stepped to the side, allowing her friend to enter "What are you doing here?"

"Well, we haven't seen each other for a while now and I missed you," he replied cheekily, getting inside and taking off his coat "Why, am I not welcome here?"

She knew he was only teasing, but still flushed. "Jas, you're _always_ welcome here." She closed the door after him "It's just that… Unexpected guests throw me off, you know."

"Ah, I know, sorry," he apologized, though he didn't look as sorry as Rose thought he should "I had a spare while and I thought I'd just get you that hot chocolate you liked so much like the best friend that I am."

"Geez, thank you very much, Mr. Savior," Rose rolled her eyes, smiling. "Well, I guess it's too late to throw you out now, so get into the living room."

Jason threw her a sly smirk and motioned for her to go first before following her into the room.

* * *

Rose laughed for the _n_th time at a funny anecdote Jason told her. As her laughter died down slowly, she glanced at the digital clock set on top of the TV. 9:27 pm. She and Jason had watched a movie and drank the delicious hot chocolate he'd brought with him. As much as she was enjoying herself in his company, Rose would actually like to cut the fun short so she could see Edward. Because, despite all the jokes and funny situations Jason'd told her and how much they both laughed over _'_ _Naked Gun 331/3: The Final Insult'_, Rose had noticed something that both disappointed and saddened her.

Jason has changed greatly over the three years, and not only physically. He wasn't the shy, timid little boy who was willing to help her in any given situation. He wasn't the kind of person who'd put other's needs above his own anymore. He was more out-going now, added animated gesticulation while speaking and increased the '_I_' in each sentence. His ego had grown tenfold over the years and it became apparent in the way he spoke. Right after noticing that change, Rose was actually happy that her friend had grown more self-confident than he used to be as a 13-year-old boy. But the more she listened to him, the more she wondered if it is just a little of over-confidence, not to say cockiness.

Just as she tried to justify him and his change, Jason began a very disturbing topic; girls.

Over the next ten minutes or so Rose had to listen to all the girls Jason'd gone out with before she came to town. There was Janet, who was his girlfriend for 9 months before she left him; next was Sue, who lasted a little over 4 months and turned out to be a total bore so he dumped her; and finally, Ella – their relationship ended rather peacefully after 6 months. But then came the final, most shocking blow.

"I can't even remember her name," he said with a chuckle "Ann or something. Anyway, the guys gave me a month to woo her and 50 bucks as a reward if I'd succeed. Sounds cliché, doesn't it?" he laughed shortly "Well, I did it. We went out a couple times, but she was totally not my type. As the month ended, I was once again free and 50 dollars richer."

Rose stared at him, speechless. Among the buzz of her thoughts in her head, there was one question that sounded the loudest and the most clear of all.

_Who is this?_

Rose was not sure what would she done if his cell hadn't rung the moment he finished talking. Jason picked up and said he'd be back in 10 minutes. He hung up and throw her another grin.

"Well, as fun as it was, I have to get going. But next time, you'll have to tell me about _your_ love-life, Ro'."

"Don't look forward to it too much," she replied, unable to keep the bitter tune out of her voice "It's not as exciting as yours."

Jason just chuckled in response and within the next minute, he was gone.

-

After checking up on Denis one more time after Jason left, Rose finally locked the front door and walked fast-paced towards the hill-top mansion. She felt anxious for some reason, and hoped that she hadn't disappointed Edward too much. She didn't like being late because she hated when people did that to her. To her, it was a sign of disrespect; she hoped Edward wouldn't see it like that, at least this one time.

She was oblivious to the young man that's left her house mere minutes later standing next to a house that was oppositely to hers, his eyes glued to her back as she made her way towards the hill. Jason took out his mobile and dialed a number to one of his friends and teammates.

"Hey, Dylan. If you're busy, quit it. Get the car, get the guys and get over to my house. We're having a party at the spooky mansion."

* * *

"Edward?" Rose called out, shuddering as her voice carried through the attic. "Hey, I'm so sorry for not coming earlier, but I couldn't! I was ready to come two and a half hours earlier, but there were some… complications."

She heard the familiar snipping sound and turned to look at the corner that was covered with total darkness. The very same moment Edward emerged from the dark sheet, his gleaming fingers and pale face contrasting wit the black of his suit and surroundings. His eyes glittered as he gazed at her.

"I thought you wouldn't come." He said quietly.

"Oh, Edward!" Rose walked up to him, feeling a strong urge to hug him "I'm really sorry. I was supposed to come earlier – much earlier. But I had an unexpected guest," she sighed.

"Guest? Who?" the boy cocked his head to the side.

"Jason," Rose shrugged "I'd appreciate it if he called first, you know. I hate being caught off guard like that."

Hearing the name 'Jason', Edward blinked as an image of Jim, Kim's jealous boyfriend popped out before his eyes. He frowned despite himself.

"Well, anyway," Rose shrugged the matter off "How was your day?"

"I made something new in the garden," Edward's thoughts did an 180-degree turn and he smiled shyly at her, his fingers twitching as his sides. His smile widened as he saw the sudden change on her face. Her eyes brightened visibly and a grin lit her face.

"What are we waiting for, then?" Rose giggled "Let's see it!"

She was about to put her foot on the first step down when they both heard something strange. An odd noise that poured into the attic through the roof. At first Rose couldn't identify the sound, but it soon dawned upon her and her eyes widened with horror. It was a car engine. And it was coming closer.

"Edward!" Rose cried out, turning to face him "Someone's coming!"

Edward started, his fingers scraping against each other and eyes going wide, even wider than Rose's. He began to shake with fear and panic.

"What do we do?" he asked helplessly, hearing the car pulling up to the front gate and the engine was turned off. Now they could hear several male voices. "What do we do?" he repeated, his voice shaking.

"Shh, Edward," Rose put her hand on his shoulder, wishing to calm and comfort him although she was as shaken as he was. "It's gonna be okay, I promise. No one's going to come here."

As if on cue, one of the many voices suggested going inside the manor. Another one shouted out the word 'party' and the rest cheered. Rose began to panic.

"Edward," she whispered, her eyes trying to catch his "Listen, I won't let anyone get here. Okay?" he refused to look at her, his eyes darting everywhere around. She put her other palm against his cold, scarred cheek and he jumped, his eyes instantly on hers. "Do you trust me?"

"Y-yes," he replied weakly "But –"

"So listen to me," Rose didn't let him finish "You will stay here, hide in the darkest corner and keep quiet. Do not go down no matter what you'll hear. Do _not_ go down unless I come and say it's safe. Understand?"

"Rose, -"

"Edward, do you understand?"

The scissor-handed boy gulped. "Yes…"

"Good. Now," Rose let him go and stepped back "I'll chase them away." She smiled weakly, determined not to show any signs of fright "Whoever they are, they better watch out."

Edward stood motionless, watching her as she turned and flew down the stairs, disappearing from his sight. He slowly moved backwards and stopped only when his back collided with a solid wall. Hidden in the shadows, he waited.

* * *

Rose had no idea what should she do. Everything else shut down, she acted only on instinct. She jogged up to the front door and paused. The voices were outside, mere feet away. The girl took a deep, calming breath and reached for the metal hoop. She grasped it firmly and, in one fluid motion, tugged. The door opened.

Light grey eyes were the first thing Rose had seen. It took her a quarter of a second to make out a whole silhouette of a young man that was standing inches away from her before she let out a high-pitched shriek. It mixed with a short yell that came out of the guy's throat and they both tumbled backwards in unison.

"Rose?"

Rose could only feel her heart beating ten times faster than normal; she heard the blood coursing through her veins rapidly above the roars of male laughter. She blinked several times and noticed a familiar face in the background. Jason was one of the four guys, who were standing before the front door. He stopped laughing and was staring at her questioningly.

"Holy shit, you scared the hell outta me!" the grey-eyed boy said, his hand on his chest.

A few seconds later, when Rose calmed down ever so slightly, she concentrated on eyeing the boys. The one that nearly walked onto her was tall, as tall as Jason, had grey eyes and a mass of raven black hair. On Jason's left stood a slightly shorter brunette with big green eyes. Finally, there was a sandy-blonde boy with sunglasses covering his eyes even though it was nighttime that was leaning against the trunk of a red sports car with the roof pulled down. All of them wore jeans and identical maroon blouses with their basketball emblem – a Bengal tiger with a basketball between its front paws - on it.

"What are you doing here?"

Rose blinked as the guys laughed again. She and Jason said the same thing at the same time. Feeling her face gaining color, she cleared her throat and crossed her arms, unconsciously barricading herself from the strangers.

"I just wanted to see what's in here," she spoke, being the first to answer "I was curious."

"Well, we just wanted to have a party here one day and went to check it out." Jason replied calmly, then his gaze turned a little bit suspicious "So, did you find anything?"

'No' was the immediate answer Rose wanted to give, but that would be too suspicious, so she slowly admitted, "The garden is really great. I love it. But there's nothing inside."

"Absolutely nothing?" the shortest guy asked. When she nodded in confirmation, he grinned "Cool. The more space for us."

Rose fought off the sudden wave of panic. She looked at the guy who spoke and raised an eyebrow. "Sure, if you're into dark, gothic and bare-walls surroundings. All the windows are covered with thick boards. And there's no electricity. No wonder, since no one lives here." She glanced at the grey-eyed boy "Sorry to scare you. I didn't mean to, really."

"Nah," he shrugged "I think it was mutual."

"So," Jason spoke up "If you're done sight-seeing, Ro', how about we give you a lift back home?"

Again, 'no' was the first thing that popped out in her head, but Rose reminded herself to be brave and do anything to get them out of there. "What, the party's off?"

"But the beer's still cold if ya want some, honey," the green-eyes guy grinned.

"Uh, no thanks," this time, Rose couldn't resist saying no. "But I'd like that lift, if you don't mind."

Jason grinned. "Great."

The teens made their way to the car while introducing themselves. Rose learned that the guy that had scared her half to death and vice versa was Ian; the shortest of them all – but still an inch or so taller than Rose herself - was Adam; and the driver was Dylan, one year older than the rest. He also seemed to be the most quiet and withdrawn, the opposite of Adam, who always had a funny joke up his sleeve. Ian was the sensible, calm one and Jason… The word 'jock' appeared on its own in Rose's mind as she watched him get into the back of the car with Adam while Dylan and Ian took the front. He turned to her and offered his hand which she took and let him help her get into the car without opening the door. Rose landed on the back couch between the two boys and felt Jason's arm around her shoulders. She sent him a glance, but he was too busy talking with Ian to notice. Letting out a quiet sigh, Rose sat back as comfortably as she could manage and listened to the guy talk, occasionally throwing in a comment of her own, but only when asked directly.

She pretended to look for the most comfy position and threw a glance at the mansion that was slowly getting smaller. She couldn't see anything.

Meanwhile, Edward stood next to the single window in the attic, gazing at the red car as it disappeared from sight gradually. He'd seen everything that had taken place since Rose shrieked and made his heart stop beating. He wanted to follow her immediately and stop whoever made her shout. Only the memory of that hard, determined expression on her face had stopped him from doing so.

He watched as Rose got into the car with the help of one of the boys and was seated in-between them. He watched as the same boy put his arm around her shoulders, reminding Edward of Jim _so much_. He watched as Rose chuckled, nervously but still, at something one of the strangers said. He saw her turning back to cast one last glance at the mansion – his home – before finally vanishing from his sight.

Edward didn't even become aware of the fact that his hands, his bladed fingers scratched against the walls on the opposite sides of the window. When he finally took notice of that, he also found out that the fear he'd been feeling when the intruders appeared had vapored without leaving the slightest trace.

Right there and then, Edward felt anger.

* * *

_**A**__: I hope you all had a nice Christmas and that New Year started out good for all of you :)_

_My Christmas break is over and it's back to school for me. For the next three weeks I'll be busy as hell, but I promise to work on that story in the little amount of free time I'll have. _

_So give me motivation – Review! :D_


	9. Intrusion

_I wasn't about to update until my Winter Break (January 23rd), but since __tomorrow is a very important day for me (explanation at the end), I decided to do it anyway. Time for shout out!_

xLoveShot_, _Hari-chan15_, _Volital_, _Nala162024_, _Scilla E._, _Katt the Pirate_, _WrathoftheElite_, _My-Lover-Gren-Gren_, _balcklace-and-roses_, _Jen_, _kuraikami _and _kadisha vallejo

_Also, thanks to all of you who added and/or faved. You rock, too! :)_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter Nine: ****Intrusion**

Rose stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror, scowling darkly. Her long brown hair was down and straight, freshly washed and smelling of Chinese Cinnamon and ginger – a shampoo her mother was currently obsessed with; she had the lightest make-up on her face; silver earrings dangled from her ears and there was a matching simple silver necklace with a glittering star attached to the thin chain. Her mother had gone even so far as to force her into a knee-length forest green dress with lighter green pattern on the skirt. Rose couldn't even remember what had Mrs. Wheeler said to make her wear this. Whatever it was, it worked.

The dress itself wasn't so bad. It made Rose look more like a girl, and the shades of green were very nice. Rose liked green, but it was kind of annoying when her parents continued making comments about how it resembles a stem. Since Rose used to be an awfully thin girl before she reached adolescence, not to mention her reddish hair, everyone kept teasing her how her name matches her appearance and how much she looks like a flower. Since then, Rose was careful to wear clothes that were a bit on the baggy side. And use a shampoo that would darken her hair without actually dying it.

"Goodness, you look lovely!"

Rose met her mother's gaze in the reflection and her scowl deepened. _'One word about a flower, and I swear I'm gonna -'_

"There's just one thing missing, though," Mrs. Wheeler said more to herself, scrutinizing her daughter with a critical eye. "After all, the Moore's are a very nice family and we do not wish to disappoint them in any way, do we?"

Like a flash, the woman took out and shoved a reddish, slender bottle of perfume in front of Rose's face and fired twice. The girl coughed and took several steps back, colliding with the mirror.

"_Mom_!" she screeched "What the hell was _that_ for?"

"Language!" Mrs. Wheeler scolded lightly "There; now you're ready to show yourself."

Rose opened her stinging eyes and was about to retort in a way Mrs. Wheeler would not approve of, but the woman was gone already. Cursing under her breath, Rose sniffed the air and stiffened. Gritting her teeth, Rose grabbed her jacket from the hanger on the door to her room and stormed out, making an effort to stomp as loudly as she could to show her irritation. _'Of all the fragrances in the world,' _she thought angrily _'she had to those that one and only - the _rose_ perfume!'_

* * *

"Rose, hey, I – what is _that_ smell?"

Rose turned around, ready to jump at the speaker's throat. She faced Nina with a deadly expression, while the other girl just smirked.

"It suits you."

"You better shut up about it."

"Or what?" Nina asked lightly "Listen, you do realize that we have only three days to complete that project, right?"

"Of course I do," Rose replied "But it's almost complete anyway."

"Yeah. Almost." Nina ran her fingers through her softened blonde curls and licked her lips absently. Her family, as well as probably every family living in the Suburbia, had been invited to the barbecue party at the Moore's. It really seemed that the people living here lived a perfect life; husbands working, women being the ideal house wives; kids going to school – and during some free time, they had parties for no apparent reason.

And, what a convenient coincidence, the Sunday was probably the last perfect, sunny Sunday that month.

"Rose!"

The girl turned around and spotted Jason, who abandoned his friends at the grill and was making his way towards her. "Coke for you."

"Thanks," Rose offered him a smile and took the plastic cup with the drink. "Hey, do you know my friend, N-" she turned to motion to Nina, but the blonde vanished from her side. "Uh,"

"If she's worthy knowing, I probably do," Jason winked playfully, but Rose failed to see humor in what he said "I just wanted to ask if you're going to the party?"

"What party?" Rose asked before she automatically said 'no'.

"Adam's gotten rid of his parents for Christmas and he's organizing a great Christmas party." The boy explained nodding his head at the group of boys who were busy loading their plastic plates with grilled meat "It's gonna be good. So, are you going?"

"Oh, I'm not sure yet," she shrugged, avoiding giving any direct answer "Let me think it over."

Jason grinned "Sure." And with that, he left to join his friends at the table.

Rose had to suffer through endless bothers when the adults stopped her and commented how nice she looked, or asking if she's hungry or is she enjoying herself. After answering all questions with gritted teeth, she was able to get out of the garden and found herself outside, at the front of the perfectly white house. There, on the bench, sat a familiar blonde-haired girl.

"Nina?" Rose asked tentatively and noticed that the girl jumped slightly. "What is it?"

"Nothing you should worry your rose-scented head about." Came the curt reply and Rose frowned.

"What is your problem?"

"I only wanted to get some fresh air, okay?" Nina turned her head to look at the brunette blankly "Satisfied your curiosity yet?"

"Not yet," Rose sat down on the bench, determined to know what's suddenly gone wrong "I'm also very curious as to what crawled up your ass and died just now."

For a few seconds, the girls stared at each other, one steady gaze against the other. Then, Nina burst out laughing. Dumbfounded at first, Rose soon joined.

"Man," the blonde said after the two calmed down "That was the worst lie I've ever said, wasn't it?"

"Pretty much, seeing as we were in a garden before and you had plenty of fresh air there."

"I can't stand the smell of meat, I'm a vegetarian," Nina grinned weakly.

Rose lifted her eyebrows. "Strange, I remember seeing you vacuum two burgers yesterday when we were taking a break from the project."

"Oh dear, I did that?" Nina's smile wavered and soon disappeared completely "I… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been…It wasn't your fault, really, I was just…"

"Being nasty?" Rose supplied with a soft smile.

"I was about to say 'was just being a total bitch', but yours sounded nicer." Nina sighed "Anyway, I'm sorry."

"I think I'll let it pass _this time_," Rose uttered lightly, grinning as Nina let out a chuckle. "So, will you tell me what's up?"

"I can't," the blonde shook her head "Sorry, but I don't want to talk about it, especially not here."

"Okay," Rose said, a bit disappointed but refusing to show it "But whenever you feel like sharing, you've got my phone number."

"I'll remember that." Nina stood up abruptly "I'm going home. See you tomorrow."

Rose stared at her as her friend walked away without another word. She sat on the bench for a short while before getting up. Since Nina was gone, there was nothing holding Rose back at the party. She came back quietly, trying not to draw any attention to herself, and walked over to the table with many different cakes on it. She cut a big slice of a chocolate cake which she tried before and took a plastic fork with her. She made a move to grab a knife as well, but stopped herself and smiled a bit. She won't be needing a knife of her own. Looking around to make sure no one was paying attention to her, Rose silently disappeared.

* * *

Edward couldn't wait for Winter to come. He was strolling slowly through the garden before the mansion, inspecting his shrub sculptures and fixing them if necessary, cutting off the leaves and branches where they did not belong. He had used all the shrubs in his garden, transforming them into breathtaking statues, and he had no piece to work on at present. When it was Winter, there also were ice blocks, and Edward like to work on ice blocks. The sculptures were as beautiful as they were made of bush, but ice was crystal and glittered in the dim Winter sun.

Edward couldn't wait to show Rose his ice statues.

He jumped in fright as he heard the gate, the main entrance to his home, screech as it was pushed open. Edward hid himself behind one of the green statues he'd been tending and didn't dare to peek around it to see who was it.

"Edward, I can see your hair," an amused voice rang through the tense silence and Edward relaxed greatly, recognizing it as Rose's voice. He stepped out from hiding place and smiled sheepishly.

She stood on the pebble path, the gate closed behind her. Edward blinked as he saw her. She looked different somehow. Perhaps Edward wasn't used to seeing Rose this early, but she looked _different_.

The first thing that hit him was the dress. Rose had always worn loose-fitting clothes, and always jeans. This time, she was clad in a pretty dress that hugged her torso closely with the skirt loose, it reached her knees and was dark green with some lighter tints here and there. Then, there was her hair; it was straighter than usual, neatly combed and hung around her face, falling on her shoulders and not tied up. It glowed in the afternoon sun, looking very soft.

Edward stared. Rose noticed it, and grew uncomfortable. He usually stared at everything he thought was unusual or interesting, or both. And since she highly doubted she was any of those, she bit her lower lip, nervous.

"Um," she began, coming closer. "Look what I've brought you!" she showed him the plastic plate with cake.

Edward continued to stare, at her, then at the chocolate cake and back at her again. He didn't even blink.

"E-Edward? Are you okay?" she asked hesitantly, coming to a stop before him "Wanna taste it?"

Seeing her cheeks flush a cute, delicate shade of pink that's been gradually getting darker within seconds, Edward finally blinked. Looking Rose dead in the eye, he opened his mouth to welcome her, thank her or say something equally polite, but the thing he said make his ivory white face gain a similar color to hers.

"You look pretty."

If she thought she was uncomfortable with him staring, Edward had proved her wrong. Very, very wrong.

"Uh, thank you," she said, shakily. She sat down on the ground, stretching her legs in front of her so that her skirt wouldn't reveal anything it shouldn't. She sat so that she wouldn't have to face him for those precious seconds and regain her inner balance.

"Rose, I'm sorry," Edward uttered softly, fidgeting. Had he said something wrong? Improper? Was she upset with him? _Oh boy, oh boy…_

"Well? Aren't you sitting down?" He looked down at her and saw her patting the space on her right side, smiling at him though her cheeks were still pinkish. Timidly, Edward sat down, careful with his hands. He still was unsure about the situation, so he avoided her eyes.

"You're _sure_ you don't want to taste it?"

Edward slowly turned his head to face Rose. She was smiling, her eyes gleaming teasingly as she held up the piece of cake right under his nose. He blinked, staring at it. When was the last time he'd eaten…? Edward tried to recall a distant memory of the food he'd eaten at the Boggs' house. He remembered cutting the food, but eating… It was very pleasant, that much he could remember. Peg was a good cook.

Edward raised his left hand and wanted to dig one of his blades into the cake when Rose stopped him.

"Here, I'll just –" she paused, the plate in one hand, the fork in the other. Her cheeks and neck heated up the slightest bit again, but she bravely shrugged it off and continued, as if nothing happened. She raised the fork, scooped some of the cake on it and slowly brought it up to the level of Edward's lips. "Try it – I promise it's good enough," she encouraged him, sensing his uncertainty.

Edward threw her a brief glance and opened his mouth.

The sensation was indescribable. The cake indeed tasted good, but for Edward, who hadn't had any food, good or bad, in his mouth for years, it was beyond words. He didn't have to eat, he never felt hungry or full. But the chocolate cake that was melting on his tongue and tickling his palate made him close his eyes for a short moment, savoring the taste.

Delicious.

"Told you,"

Edward reopened his eyes and turned them to Rose, who was watching him closely, a mixture of amazement, wonder and kind teasing. They were sitting so close that Edward could smell, among the sweet scent of chocolate, her fragrance. It was a mixture of all sorts of scents, but the strongest was most definitely…

"Rose?"

She blinked, "Yes?"

"Um," Edward flinched. He didn't mean to say it out loud, and he didn't mean her name. "It's very good." And quickly, he added, "Thank you."

Her confused gaze brightened. "No problem," she replied cheerfully "Here, have another one."

The two of them spent the next half an hour eating the cake – though it was mostly Edward who'd been doing that; and chatting, which was more Rose's task. The sun reached its' peak and slowly began to lower itself towards the horizon line.

The momentary silence was broken violently when the gate screeched again, and two voices rang through the garden.

"Brad, are you _sure_ about this?"

"Trust me, babe, it's brilliant."

Rose and Edward bolted upwards, stunned and silent. The girl grabbed his elbow and, as quietly as she could, directed him towards a big sculpture of a bird, far away from the gate and the voices. The two hid behind it and Rose motioned to Edward to be silent – though it was completely unnecessary, as the boy was too frightened to utter a word – and peeked out from around the green statue.

A boy and a girl. He was tall and tanned, wearing a casual T-shirt and shorts. Short, gelled back reddish hair and dark eyes. She was almost as tall as he due to the high heels she had on her feet, along with a white skirt that reached her mid-thigh and light brown, coffee-and-cream tank top. Her hair was shoulder-length and wavy, almost the same brown shade as her eyes. She looked positively frightened.

"I mean, do we have to be _here_, of all places?" the girl asked, clinging to her boyfriend's arm for dear life "I heard it's haunted."

"And that's why we're here during the day," the boy looked like he wanted to roll his eyes, but didn't. "Look, there's nothing here. Jas and the guys said so."

At the mention of Jason, Rose tensed.

The couple continued talking about whether to enter the spooky manor or not, and Rose spotted a fist-sized rock lying under a statue that was closer to the pair. She turned to Edward and gestured that way, motioning him to stay where he was. Before he had the chance to react, she made sure the couple was too busy with themselves and sneaked towards the rock. She made little noise and soon she reached her destination. Rose crouched down behind the sculpture and picked up the rock.

The couple was standing in front of the door, the boy finally having persuaded his companion to enter. He reached out to grab the metal hoop to open the door, when without any warning, a rock crashed against the stony wall, inches away from the girls' head.

Edward watched, with worry and amazement, as Rose crouched back down behind the horse statue, a wicked grin on her face. The stranger girl shrieked so loudly that he flinched and instinctively shrunk his figure even further.

"What the hell was that?" the boy asked, though his girlfriend was too panic-stricken to say anything. She continued to cling to him and shriek.

"This place is friggin' _haunted_!" she said finally "Let's get out of here!"

"Brit, it was just –"

"_Now_!" she yelled and began to pull him towards the exit. The guy said something in protest, but the two soon disappeared out of eyesight, their voices melting in the distance.

Rose, making sure they're gone for good, ran up to Edward. Although she was as freaked out as he had been, she wore a big grin on her face and her eyes was heavily laced with amusement as she spoke.

"Wasn't that great?" she asked, laughing "Her expression was priceless!"

"But what were they doing here?" Edward did not found the situation funny, at all.

"Probably on a date or something, but really, who cares," Rose shrugged carelessly picking up the empty plate she'd dropped earlier.

"A date?" Edward cocked his head to the side. The word sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't remember any details.

"You know, when a boy and a girl…" Rose colored faintly "Get out and do something fun together, as in, _together_." It must've been the most pathetic explanation Rose had ever heard, and it was her own. She hurried to simplify the matter "I mean, a date is something two people do when they're something more than friends. They go out to eat, see a movie or something like that."

Edward, looking a lot less confused, nodded slowly. "I see." He didn't, really, but he had the basic idea. Two people, a boy and a girl. Doing fun things together. Simple enough.

"Um, I have to go now," Rose uttered regretfully "My parents will be back from the barbecue any minute and I better be home before them." She played with the plastic plate in her hands "I'll drop by after school, either tomorrow or the day after, sounds good?"

"Yes," Edward smiled, beaming "Like a date."

Rose froze, feeling her cheeks gaining color for the _n_th time that day. "Uh," she stuttered out, flustered. She was about to correct him, but since nothing that would not upset him came to her mind - and Rose was determined never to make Edward sad, since one look at his upset face made her heart clench painfully – she decided not to say anything instead and just give him a small smile.

They both walked towards the rusty gate and Rose opened it, stepping out. She turned to look at her scissor-handed friend, a smile on her lips.

"See you, Edward," she uttered quietly.

"Good-bye, Rose."

The blush didn't disappear from Rose's face even after she reached the door to her house. _'I should stop that before it'll be a habit,'_ she scolded herself lightly, annoyed that she was so easy to get flushed.

With her face so red, she not only smelled, but also _looked_ like a rose now. Which was even more annoying.

* * *

_**A**__: So, tomorrow's my 18th Birthday! I will be legally an adult, though I feel not older than 15. Funny how it works. I will write during my Winter Break and I'm pretty sure that a new chapter will come out somewhere around then._

_Hope you liked this – a Review as a gift would be just amazing. ;)_


	10. Danger, Part One

_A long wait for a relatively short chapter; but I admit shamefully, that it's all I could come up with. Books and movies consumed me whole and my Muse seemed to left for vacation, too. I think she comes to me whenever I have homework that desperately needs to be done._

_For Reviewing the last chapter, I'd like to thank the following:_

Nala162024_, _Wierdo-Lover_, _WrathoftheElite_, _Scilla E_., _balcklace-and-roses_, _Katt the Pirate_, _kuraikami_, _Three Books in the Fire_, _Hari-chan15_ and _My-Lover-Gren-Gren.

_Thank you so much, guys! __Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Danger**

**Part One****:**

**A **_**Special**_** Party**

Time is a very strange thing, Edward mused. He's been sitting in his attic for such a long time – hours? days? He was not sure – and felt it. After making a small round in the garden and taking care of his green statues, he returned back up and sat in his corner, staring at the opposite wall. Occasionally, he'd look up, at the hole in the roof, to gaze at the sky, which changed colors from light violet, crystal blue, cerulean, spotted with white clouds (was it just him or were the clouds _moving_ across the sky? Was that a sign of passing time, too?), then bright with the sun up, and then turned darker and darker until it was navy blue and finally, black.

That was day. After day there was night. And Edward began to hope Rose would appear at the entrance, smiling as always. She would utter her greeting, that sweet-sounding _'hi, Edward!'_ and come up to him, her smile so wide, her eyes so bright. How Edward wished to see her.

Ever since that awful incident with Jim, Edward decided to lock himself up in his mansion, in his home, alone. Without no one he could hurt with his unfinished hands. However, after Kim gave him his first hug and then – oh, how well he could remember it – his first kiss, and left him forever, the boy craved for human contact. Not those mean townspeople, oh no. Edward wanted someone who'd be as kind and caring as Peg was to him; as warm and understanding as Kim had been. Every day, he wished for Kim to come back. Every day he suffered when she didn't.

And after such long time, probably years and years, someone did came into his life again. The expression of amazement and wonder on a stranger girl's face had craved itself in Edward's memory. But she'd run away, and he felt a cold stab of disappointment, but at the same time, a drop of relief. It was a strange feeling; Edward couldn't understand why his emotions were so mixed up.

But the girl had returned. And then Edward began to think that maybe – _maybe_ – it was Kim. But it wasn't. It was a stranger, and she was clearly frightened by his appearance. Yet she hadn't run away. She had spoken to him, wanted to learn his name. And he had learnt hers.

Rose.

Edward stared at the old, unused fireplace. Pictures of hands and palms were barely visible in the dim early evening light. If only he'd had hands like those… Edward closed his eyes and curled up in a ball in the corner, the blades of his hands pointing away from him. Everything would be much easier. Everything. People would accept him – not just _some_ people, those exceptionally kind-hearted people like Peg, Kim and Rose. Every person living in Suburbia would accept him, as their equal. He wouldn't have to be alone anymore. He wouldn't have to suffer anymore.

Feeling a wave of many emotions overwhelming him, Edward got up slowly and walked towards the opposite side of the spacious attic, then back again. He paused and looked through the hole, up at the sky. Then he lowered his gaze to the town below his manor. It was just like he remembered it, albeit vaguely. Same identical, perfectly shaped houses, same colors, same tidy lawns, although there weren't any shrub sculptures anymore. Just plain shrubs Edward would love to work on. Everything seemed to be no different than all those years ago when Edward was down there.

Did people really change, like Rose said…?

* * *

Rose frowned as her eyes scanned the main hall of the school. She tried to spot the familiar blonde waves of hair that belonged to Nina, but to no avail. Rose wanted to talk to her ever since that little incident at the barbecue, but every time she asked, Nina either shrugged and changed the topic or pretended not to hear her altogether. Everything was fine until the conversation stumbled upon that certain topic. Rose was very curious of that secret Nina was so desperate to hide, yet it wasn't only that. She was also worried.

Rose, along with a crowd of other students, exited the building and made her way towards the main gate, still looking around. She was a few feet away from the open gate and was about to give up her searching, when Nina appeared seemingly out of thin air near one of the columns. She was bent over and searching for something inside her bag.

"Nina!" Rose breathed out and began to move in the blonde's direction. Nina looked up and spotted her as well, and offered her a small smile before her eyes widened at something – or rather someone – that was coming towards Rose. The blonde spun around abruptly.

"Hey, Nina, wai-!" Rose caught movement in the corner of her eye, but it was too late. She collided with someone who was walking fast-pace straight at her side.

"Ugh," she groaned, taking two steps to the side to avoid falling down.

"Damn," a male's voice mixed with her groan "Hey, watch it – Oh, Rose!"

She looked over to the person who almost ran her over. At first she was clueless as to who the guy with big, sparkling green eyes was and why did he know her name. Then, he flashed her a wide grin and she could match the name to the face; it was one of Jason's friends, Adam Donovan, the joker.

"A-Adam," she nodded her head in greeting, feeling an embarrassed blush covering her cheeks "Sorry, I wasn't looking where –"

"Whatever," he cut in, waving his hand "We're both alive, aren't we?" his grin widened "So, ready for the party?"

"Um," Rose blinked. Jason had mentioned something about a party at Adam's, but wasn't it a Christmas party? "Sure, but… Isn't it a month away?"

"_A month away_?" Adam laughed loudly, catching the attention of some students. Rose blushed harder. "Man, don't tell me you haven't gotten an invitation to this _special_ party!"

"Special… What are you talking about?" she crossed her arms, wishing the people would just go away or at least turn their heads.

"You serious?" Adam stopped laughing and stared at her "Jas didn't tell you about the special party?"

"Well," Rose snapped "Apparently not, seeing as I'm totally clueless, so why don't you tell me what are you talking about?"

"Whoah, down girl," Adam raised his hands, palms facing her, a sheepish smile on his face "I get it. Okay, so we're going to have a huge party at the spook house up there."

Rose froze. "When?" she tried to stay calm, but her voice shook slightly.

"Tonight, of course. The start's at 6, but some people are heading there after school to set the food and drinks and other stuff." Adam grinned once more, oblivious to the inner battle going on in Rose's head. "Since Jas hadn't invited you, I'm gonna do it. So," his face turned serious "Rose Middle-name Wheeler, will you come to the party to grace us with your beauty?"

His solemn expression and the dramatic tone of voice he used caused her to burst into giggles. Adam was the joker, all right. Serious just wasn't his thing, and he looked even more funny when he tried to act formal. It didn't fit him at all. Her sudden mirth was cut short when she remembered what had he said a moment ago. _'Spook house'._

"My middle name is Lily and I don't think I'll make it," she lied smoothly "I have lots of work to do."

"You're also sixteen," Adam noted, raising his eyebrow "And Jas' friend. You can't stay at home when everyone else is out, Ro'."

She hated that nickname. As if 'Rose' wasn't short enough! But her dad would never quit calling her that, even though she'd told him countless times she didn't like it. And Jason, well, she never told him about her dislike towards the nickname. But hearing it from a total stranger made her frown.

"I'm sixteen and a half." Rose uttered quietly, biting her tongue before she could add, 'and right now my grades are top priority in my life'. Instead, she continued, "And I really have much to do. Sorry, but I think I'll pass this time."

"Okay then, no pressure," Adam shrugged, offering her a friendly smile "But I'll be sure to keep in mind that little _'this time'_. That means you will come to the Christmas party, yeah?"

There it was, the chance to end the pointless talk and run along. Rose returned his smile and nodded. "Sure."

Oh, such enthusiasm.

"Well, then. See you around!" Adam waved shortly and walked away.

Rose also turned around and leisurely walked towards the entrance gates. She looked around once; Nina was nowhere in sight anymore. Wasting no time, the brunette took off abruptly and ran as fast as she could towards the direction of her house. She had to stop by there and drop her backpack off; it was beginning to give her shoulder a hard time. Then, she had to flee towards the dark manor as quick as possible.

She needed to warn Edward, she needed to get him out of the mansion before the people would arrive there. And since some of those people had cars, Rose was at a big disadvantage. But, if she ran fast enough, maybe…

Rose reached her house in a record time of 4 minutes and 21 seconds. She pushed the front door open with so much force it banged the wall next to it. The noise made Denis peek out from the living room, where he was busy playing video games.

"Watch it!" he barked before disappearing as his game loaded. The girl ignored him altogether and dashed upstairs to her room, where she left her backpack carelessly on the floor and flew back down. When she passed Trevor's room, she called out, "Be back soon, going to Nina's!" and dashed ahead, not hearing nor caring for the response.

Rose grabbed the door knob, satisfied with herself that she took so little time when a noise cut through the hall. The telephone situated right next to the kitchen entrance in the hall rang. Rose jumped up in surprise.

"Answer it before you go, Rose!" Trevor's voice was muffled by the distance and his closed door, but Rose heard him clearly. She hissed out the four-letter word before hastily picking up.

"Yeah?" she didn't care if she was rude, even though it could be a friend of her parents' calling. Her parents, who were currently at the cinema.

But it was someone Rose knew very well. And that certain person was too busy to prevent themselves from bursting into tears to notice Rose's impatient voice.

"Rose," Nina said in a shaky voice on the other line "I think I want to… I mean, I need to talk to you. As in, in person. I just can't take it anymore…"

"Nina?" for a second, Rose had forgotten all about the party at the mansion and the danger Edward was in "What happened?"

"I need to tell somebody, please… Just, come over and I'll tell you everything, okay?"

"Nina, I –"

"Just come over, okay? Please, Rose…" a sob escaped her throat "It won't take long, I promise."

Rose bit her lip. "Give me 15 minutes," and hung up immediately. She didn't hear Nina's second sob and a soft rustle of paper being folded into a ball by an angry fist, then being thrown at the wall.

Rose ended the conversation and dashed out of the house, praying to God she'd be the first one to arrive at the hill-top mansion.

* * *

_**A**__: Originally, this is only the first half of a whole chapter I've had to divide. I figured it would be quicker to update that way – half of a chapter is much faster to write than a whole one. So the second half shouldn't take too long._

_Please Review if you enjoyed! Let me know what you think ;)_


	11. Danger, Part Two

Nala162024_, _xLoveShot_, _balcklace-and-roses_, _Hari-chan15_, _Scilla E._, _WrathoftheElite_, _kuraikami_, _Katt the Pirate_, _Jen_, _My-Lover-Gren-Gren_, _sakura1243_, _SeventhSister_! Thank you guys so very, very much! You are truly the best!_

* * *

_ **Chapter Eleven: Danger**_

**Part Two****:**

**Bet-Girl**

Edward, curled up in the corner of his room, lifted his head abruptly at the sound of frantic footsteps coming closer towards the attic. He scrambled clumsily to his feet and straightened his silhouette just as his eyes caught the familiar dark brown hue of Rose's hair. His wide smile, however, soon turned upside down as he took a peak at her face.

Rose's hair was disheveled and her face was moist with sweat. She was also panting heavily and had to bend down slightly, hands on her knees, to catch her breath. She took three deep breaths and looked up at him, her eyes wide.

"Edward," she breathed out heavily and he could feel himself shiver. The girl pushed herself up and was beside him within a second. Beside the slight flush of her cheeks, she was almost as pale as he was. "I made it…"

Edward watched her intently as she closed her eyes momentarily and breathed out a sigh of relief. "What happened?"

"Nothing, Edward," she reopened her eyes and grabbed his arm just a little above his elbow. Her gaze was hard and determined. "Nothing _yet_."

"Um…"

"Listen," she said before he had the chance to ask "You remember Jason and his friends coming here a few days ago, right?"

He could only nod, gulping loudly. How could he forget, those boys really gave him a scare.

"Yeah, well, the party's not off, like I thought it was. Some people from my school will be here any minute, and –" Rose paused as she saw and felt Edward shiver again, this time more violently. He was positively terrified.

"What do we do now?" his voice was barely above a whisper and if she'd been standing two steps away from him, she wouldn't hear him at all.

"We, uh," Rose bit her lower lip and let her hand release Edward's forearm and drop at her side. She had to form some sort of a plan to… To what, exactly? What did she want to do? _'Not let the party happen.'_ Was the first answer that came to her mind. _'Now, what can I do to achieve that?'_ If only they'd have more time!

Both Rose and Edward jumped as a salvo of car horns rang through the still silence. Time's up.

"Come with me, Edward," Rose heard herself whisper as she gripped Edward's arm once again, gently yet firmly "And keep quiet."

"B-but, I…"

"Not a word, Edward!" she turned to look at him and noted how frightened he was. His white face was glowing in the dark, his purplish lips were quivering and his eyes… His eyes, wide with panic and as black as their surroundings, were filed with pure fear to the brim. She could almost make out her own reflection in them; and she was sure she looked as afraid as he was.

But, Rose also had a plan, and that plan made her keep the panic at bay. For now.

"Come on, let's go," she urged silently and began to walk fast-pace down the stairs, careful not to let her friend slip on the stairs. It took them a while to reach the bottom of the stone staircase, but Rose assured herself that the hardest part was now over and that everything will go quicker from then on. She truly hoped so.

Rose, still clutching Edward's elbow, came up to the door and dared to open it slightly. She peered through the slit and couldn't help releasing yet another sigh of relief when she found nothing wrong. The cars still hadn't arrived. They still had a chance to get away unnoticed.

"Wher-"

"_Shh_!" she hissed, twitching at the unexpected sound of Edward's hushed voice just a little above her shoulder. "Later,"

Deciding it's now or never, Rose yanked the door open, startling Edward greatly (she felt the sharp tug as she did so), and pulled him behind her. The still bright light made the boy close his eyes and he stumbled, but managed to stay on his feet and let Rose drag him behind her, keeping up with her pace without much problem.

Rose had the plan ready by the time she opened the door. On the other side of the road leading up to Edward's mansion, there was a forest. It wasn't too dense, but most of the trees had thick trunks that could hide the two of them and help getting down unnoticed.

Edward followed Rose closely, not daring to utter a word, even though he was confused. Confused and terrified. They reached the iron gate and Rose opened it, dashing forward without looking around. Her eyes were glued to the nearest trees, wanting to hide herself and Edward in their shadows. Edward, however, being dragged along, risked a glance to his right and was blinded by two bright reflectors. He stumbled again.

Rose noticed the dark green sports car when she felt slight resistance coming from her friend. She pulled him even stronger and they were able to reach the first trees just as the car passed them by. The girl continued running for a few more seconds when the first car pulled to a stop. She sat down behind the thickest tree trunk she could find in the dark and settled Edward closely next to her. Just then she noticed that behind the dark green car were more vehicles and all of them were shaking with the maximum volume of music coming from the radio. Also, each car was packed with people.

Rose could feel Edward shiver violently as the cars stopped and those people began to come out. Never before, during all the years of his solitude, had he seen so many people on his grounds. Even the angry mob that had chased him hadn't crossed the threshold of his property. And the people he watched from the shadows of the forest… He did not like them. Not one bit. They all reminded him of Jim and his friends.

He felt a slight pressure on his arm and turned his gaze on Rose, who was watching him intently. "We need to go," she said in a whisper and began to rise quietly. Keeping her eyes on the group of young people at the entrance gate at the other side of the road, Rose helped Edward get to his feet and the two of them started moving towards the town, far away from the mansion.

Edward didn't resist at all until his home was too far away for comfort. He stopped suddenly.

"I can't." he uttered quietly, even though the cars and the teenagers were way out of earshot.

Rose turned to face him with a sympathetic, yet determined expression. "I'm sorry, Edward, but you don't really have a choice now." She tugged at his arm, but he refused to move "Come on, I'm sure there's more of them coming."

"More?" Edward turned to look at her, his black eyes wide and purplish lips quivering ever so slightly "More? But I… That's _my_ home… My only… Why are _they_ there? Why do they keep coming, even though you've told them _not_ to?"

"Edward…" Rose trailed off, not knowing what to say. She could faintly take notice of her heart which was hammering loudly in her ribcage. "Listen, uh… We can't stay here for too long. I'll take you to my house -" she noted how he flinched upon hearing that "-to my room, and you'll stay there until tomorrow. Then you'll be able to return. Okay?"

"But…"

"No one will notice you," she cut him off, hearing another car engine from afar "I'll take you straight to my room and no one will ever know. I promise." She tugged at his arm gently "Now, let's go."

As they continued their journey down the hill, several other cars passed them and Rose recognized the familiar red sports car that belonged to one of Jason's closest friends. Gritting her teeth, the girl tried not to think about her childhood friend and how much of it was his fault.

* * *

Everything was a blur for both Rose and Edward. The scissor-handed boy could faintly recall the girl pulling him behind her and circling the houses so that no one would notice them if they look out the window. They arrived at the Wheelers' doorstep and Rose, after making sure her parents' car wasn't around, told him to follow her very closely and as silently as he could. He could barely heard her since her voice was so quiet and, it could be his imagination, but it was also shaky.

Maybe it was just him, but when Edward watched her, fidgeting, he noticed that her hands were shaking when she reached for the doorknob.

When the door opened with a soft click, his mind went blank. He could only watch and follow Rose like a faithful shadow. Rose, on the other hand, staid clear-headed. She had to. The lights in the living room were turned off, so she passed it without a thought. She climbed the stairs, stomping a bit louder than she should have to cover Edward's footsteps, and without the shortest pause at her brother's door yelled out "I'm back!". Rose quickened her pace even more and calmed down only when the door to her own room closed.

Instead of flicking the main light on, she went up to her bed and lit up a small lamp that was standing on the bedpost. Soft, pale yellow light flooded her room and she indicated Edward to sit down on her bed. The boy complied, looking around curiously.

The room wasn't big; though it seemed more than enough for one person. The big white-framed window was oppositely to the entrance and was the only one in the room, at the moment covered with cream white curtains. The bed – wide with cream and green covers – was set right next to the window; then there was a wooden drawer with many framed pictures on top of it. The opposite side of the room was slightly more clustered. Edward eyed the desk, the strange-looking square machine along with a mess of books and papers on top of it, them moved his eyes to the side to admire Rose's book collection which filled five shelves from floor level almost reaching the ceiling. In the corner oppositely to the bed, there was a wide closet.

Edward's eyes slowly rolled back to Rose, who seemed to calm down almost completely, yet still seemed to be in a hurry.

"Uh, listen, Edward," she began, sitting down next to him "I have to leave for a while, and I'll do my best to be back as soon as possible."

"L-leave?" Edward echoed, his eyes growing wide once again. "Why?

"I need to see Nina, it seems important." Rose stood up again and pointed at the closet. "No one's allowed here, especially at this hour, but if someone comes in, you have to hide there. If it's me, I'll call out by your name, okay?"

Stunned, Edward could only nod.

"Good," she breathed, chewing on her lip "I'll be back soon, okay? Promise."

With that, she turned around and opened the door quietly, then gave him one last reassuring gaze and vanished.

Edward was left alone with the swirling, overwhelming emotions, sitting on Rose's bed in her room. Away from the mansion, his _home_, that was currently occupied by strangers. Strange, sitting there didn't make him feel as lonely as he thought it would.

* * *

Nina, just like Rose, was home alone that night. Since she was an only child, she didn't have anyone to share the house with, anyone who'd prevent her from feeling lonely. When she heard the sound of knocking cut through the almost perfect silence, she jumped up from the couch where she was sitting curled up for the past 30 minutes. Nina opened the door to see an out of breath Rose.

"Sorry I'm late, got stopped by something really important, what is it?" the words were rushed and stringed into one sentence and Nina had to blink before bursting into chuckles. She stepped aside and let the brunette inside.

"Have a seat; we have the whole house to ourselves tonight!" Nina uttered in a cheerful voice, making Rose frown "Would you like a drink or something?"

"No, I…" Rose bit herself on the tongue to stop herself from continuing "No, thanks."

Nina's smile faltered visibly. "You seem like you want to get this over with fast. Come on."

Rose followed Nina to the spacious and light living room. She noticed a plate full of biscuits on top of a wood-and-glass coffee table and many papers crumpled into balls or ripped to shreds. Raising an eyebrow, Rose took a seat on the couch and waited.

"First of all, I want to ask you something." Nina stood on the other side of the coffee table and put her hands on her hips, staring Rose dead in the eye "Did you left me a note today or earlier this week in my locker?"

Rose shook her head without hesitation. "I didn't left you anything. Why?"

Nina stared at her for another second, then sighed and sat down next to her. She nodded towards the papers. "Take a look."

Rose reached for the crumpled notes and unfolded one of them.

_**WHORE**_

Eyes wide, she turned the paper to see what's on the other side. A red lipstick imprint of full lips without another word. Rose took another paper and unfolded.

_Did that __**month**__ gave you an idea that you're __somebody__?_

_Dream on._

The sentence on the third one was written with a pink glitter pen.

_As J's gf, I thank you for the 50 bucks. He and I had a wonderful date. __xoxo_

"Who the **hell** gave you all th-" Rose's eyes landed on one of the shreds. It was ripped completely, but that one strap of paper that held the writing was in one piece.

_**Bet-girl**_

"Nina…" Rose looked up to see her friend watching her intently. The blonde shifted her gaze to the table silently, then shuddered. One tear rolled down her pale cheek, soon followed by a whole cascade.

Nina burst into an unexpected, uncontrollable crying fit.

* * *

_**A**__: I actually have a pretty good reason for such late update, you know. I had my driving exam (theory only, for now) the past Thursday and I had to study my ass off. But I passed :)_

_I hope you understand and will be patient with me. I promise to write as often as possible._

_Once again, thank you for reviewing! Keep 'em coming! ;)_


	12. A Story of the Past

_Oh my __**GOD**__! Do I see __**100**__ Reviews?! Unbelievable! THANK YOU SO MUCH, EVERYONE!_

_Special thanks to the last Reviewers:_

Justanothergaarafangurl_, _Nala162024_, _blacklace-and-roses_, _Jen_, _kuraikami_, _Katt the Pirate_, _kimidragon_, _loopycathair_, _linalove_ (so much Reviews at once! Wow!), _WrathoftheElite_ and finally, _Joker with the Green Scarf_ (Rose)._

_Wow._

* * *

**Chapter ****Twelve: A Story of the Past**

Edward remembered the feeling very well, actually. The day Peg came to him and took him to her house, he was nervous, and more than a bit scared. The cold darkness of his mansion and the fresh air in the garden was all that he'd known. He had never imagined he could live _out there_. Oh, of course he was curious – what would it be like, down there? His father, the Inventor, never mentioned the townsfolk, so it was hard for Edward to imagine.

There he was again, sitting on the bed of his friend, in her room, looking at everything with as much fascination as always. Apprehensively, he stood up and came closer to the drawer, inspecting the framed pictures on top of it. His insides clenched ever so slightly as the photo of Kim materialized out of nowhere, but he blinked and it was gone.

The first picture was the biggest. Two adults in the back, a tall boy at the woman's side and Rose at the man's side. Before them, a boy a bit similar to Kevin, was crouching down with a ball in his hands. They all were smiling and the picture was colorful and looked very cheerful. Unconsciously, Edward smiled with them.

Right next to the big family picture was a smaller one. Rose in the very center of it, two boys on either side of her – one was older and a head taller while the other was small. Edward guessed them to be her brothers. They were making weird faces to the camera. Edward's smile widened.

The third one confused him a little. It showed two kids, a girl and a boy, both covered in dirt and mud yet grinning widely. The girl had dark brown hair, like Rose, but shorter and very disheveled. She also had Rose's bright hazel eyes. The boy held a ball under his arm, his other arm around the girl's shoulders. Edward wondered who could they be; the girl looked like Rose's sister, but she never mentioned having any more siblings than her two brothers.

The distant sound of footsteps brought him out of his reverie and Edward tore his gaze away from the rest of the photos, directing it to the door, fully alert. Was it Rose? He strongly hoped it was her, but her warning mixed with his fear made him tiptoe silently towards the closet. He carefully opened the door, cringing as it made a soft creek, and clumsily hid himself inside. He managed to close the door behind him as far as his blades gave him the chance to, and waited.

As he lowered his hand, Edward heard a strange sound ring through the darkness of the closet, a sound of something ripping. Dreadfully he realized that his fingers must've cut one of Rose's clothes. Shaking violently yet not making any sound, Edward waited with his insides twisted in many knots.

The footsteps grew louder and louder until they stopped abruptly right outside Rose's room.

* * *

_"I can't even remember her name,"_ he had said. With such casual expression, one could think he was contemplating the weather or something equally meaningless. _"Ann or something."_

It wasn't Ann. It was Nina.

_"Anyway, the guys gave me a month to woo her and 50 bucks as a reward if I'd succeed. Sounds cliché, doesn't it?"_

It would sound cliché if he was talking about the plot of a teenage romance movie. Not about real life, not about himself.

_"Well, I did it. We went out a couple times, but she was totally not my type. As the month ended, I was once again free and 50 dollars richer."_

And he kept chuckling all the time, as if it was the funniest anecdote ever.

Rose walked towards her house briskly, the dark frown stuck on her face ever since she left Nina's home after a total of one hour and three minutes. Her thoughts were running in circles at a breathtaking speed and many emotions were boiling inside of her, wanting to take over. There was sympathy for Nina, the girl who had been chosen to be an item worth fifty dollars, the one who had been toyed with in one of the worst possible ways. Treated like an article, she'd spent a whole month as Jason's girlfriend, and while it was the most beautiful time for her then, it soon turned out to be a joke and beautiful turned to painful in a matter of those few minutes where Jason explained the truth to her. Nina's dream guy turned out to be her living nightmare. And now she had Jason's ex and her friends sending her hurtful notes.

Right next to sympathy for her new friend, was anger at her old one. Rose could tell Jason has changed much over the years. However, there was no justification of what he'd done to Nina. She knew she should talk to him about it, even though she didn't look forward to it much.

She released a sigh as she noted that the car was still not in sight. Rose opened the front door and made her way all the way up to her room without stopping even for a second. However, at the sight before her, her breath hitched slightly. There was a small slit between the door and the doorframe and Rose was positive she had not left it that way, even though she was in quite a hurry. Gulping nervously, she pushed the door open and went inside, closing them behind her firmly.

"Edward?" she whispered, not wanting to startle the boy. "Edward, I'm back."

Beside the loud heartbeat that was ringing in her ears, there was silence.

"Edward," she tried again "You can come out now." Her palms clenched "Please."

The closet door screeched softly and the black silhouette appeared, timid as always. Edward looked at Rose with a mixture of happiness, relief and many more emotions she could not name; or was too shaken to do so. Unconsciously, she released a long breath she'd been holding.

"Rose," he said in a hushed voice, his pale, scarred face breaking into a wide smile. Rose couldn't help but smile back, equally wide.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a quiet voice "I'm so sorry it took so long, but it was pretty serious stuff and I couldn't just leave Nina like that… Has anything happened?"

"Someone came up here," Edward uttered quietly "Once. But I didn't see who it was, I was, um…"

"I know." She said simply. "I know." She repeated, not sure what to say. Silence fell upon them as she stood, playing with the hem of her shirt in a nervous manner. It felt a bit surreal, having Edward in the room. He looked sort of out of place in her light-colored room, his all-black appearance clashing violently with the creamy walls and calming green. And he looked so lost, too…

"Don't worry, Edward," Rose uttered, taking a step towards him, wondering how else could she comfort him "They'll spend there one night and you'll be free to return in the morning. I'll even walk you before I go to school, okay?"

Edward nodded, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Okay." His eyes rolled to the side, gazing at the framed photos.

Rose caught his glance and walked over to the drawer, beckoning him to come closer as well. "This one," she pointed at the biggest picture of her family "Was taken about a year ago, in front of our old house. It was one of the very few 'better days' of our family. You know," she chuckled humorlessly "When mom and dad had a day off at the same time, and we came back from school early enough. They were in such good mood that they simply told us to gather 'round and have a picture. Spontaneous was never their thing, you know."

"Spontaneous?" Edward repeated, not able to recall the word.

"It's when you do something without really thinking it over," she explained, snapping back into reality "Like, you think about doing something and you do it the next second. My parents never acted like that."

"Why?"

"Because…" Rose trailed off, not sure herself "Well, maybe because they liked having everything planned out, with no place for mistakes or mood swings. They don't like surprises, they prefer to know everything about everything that's going on."

"Are surprises a bad thing?"

Rose laughed at this a bit. "No! I personally love surprises. A bit of something unexpected is fun. But…" her smile slid off "Not everyone appreciates that."

The two of them lapsed into silence again. Rose gingerly ran her fingers along the polished wood of the drawer, staring at the photo. Mom and dad standing in the back, arms around one another, genuine smiles on their faces. Her brother Trevor, almost as tall as their father at that time, hands in his pocket, standing next to the woman casually. He was looking at the camera with a cocky smirk on his face. Denis crouching down, a ball in his hands, grinning widely at the camera. And she, Rose, was standing at her dad's side, hands tucked modestly behind her back, a shy smile on her face. Good times.

Edward did not like the strange look on his friend's face. Surpassing any nervous movements, he pointed his bladed finger at another, smaller picture that caught his attention earlier. "An-and this one?"

His shaky voice made Rose snap out of it. She blinked, shifting her gaze to look at the picture Edward was pointing at. "Oh." She said "It's…" a 11-year-old Rose and a boy, both covered in dirt and mud, yet wearing almost identical wide grins. The boy had a football tucked beneath his arm, the other around her shoulders.

"It's me and my… friend."

"Friend?" Edward looked closer. "It's _you_? But…" he looked at the real her and Rose was taken aback as she took notice of the proximity; his nose nearly touched hers as his head whipped suddenly in her direction. "But you don't look like that."

"Ah," Rose discreetly took a tiny step back to regain some of her personal space and chuckled "Oh, Edward!" she couldn't help but laugh at his totally clueless face "It's me when I was eleven! I looked like that when I was a kid!"

Edward glanced at the picture, then at Rose and back again. "What happened?"

She blinked, the laughter dying down. "I grew up."

"Grew… up?"

"Yes," she couldn't believe he had no idea about such _obvious_ things. "I… grew up." How else should she explain this? She highly doubted Edward would understand if she tried to define the process of getting older like a biology teacher. "Years passed and I grew bigger and older and… my appearance changed somewhat…" she ran her hand through her hair and sighed "That's part of human nature. I really don't know how to explain…"

Rose glanced at Edward to see if he'd understood at least a third of what she'd tried to tell him and blinked. His face was blank as he gazed at the photo, his blades resting on the wood like her fingers were. Without thinking it over, Rose reached out and put her hand on his wrist, just above the place where his skin and blades connected. She noticed that he blinked and tensed.

"Come on, Edward," she said softly "Let's get some rest, okay?"

Edward could only nod stiffly. He still wasn't used to human touch, especially when it was so gentle. It was a weird feeling, but then something even more strange happened. Rose smiled at him and took her hand away, making her way towards the bed, where she hesitated for a second before taking the blanket and sitting down on the plush carpet next to the bed. The moment her hand left his, Edward felt something drill a hole in his stomach. He wished he could hold the comforting feeling of another person's touch for a while longer.

He awkwardly sat down on the rug next to Rose, being very careful with his fingers. She smiled again and draped the blanket over him and then shifted a bit closer so that she'd fit under it as well. Edward held his breath when her shoulder touched his. It lasted a good few seconds, then the girl put her hands behind her head and leaned against the bed.

"Hey, Edward?" she called out, stifling a yawn.

"Yes?" he turned his head to look at her sleepy face.

"What happened the last time you were… Down here?" She knew she shouldn't push him. But, she was also afraid that if she didn't remind him once in a while, he'd forget all about it and never tell her. And Rose wanted to know – not only to satisfy her curiosity, but for his sake as well.

Edward staid silent for a longer moment. His eyes darted around the room mindlessly, stopped to once again look at the photos. He took them all in and remembered all the stories Rose had told him during their meetings. Finally, he turned to look at her and twitched ever so slightly when his eyes met hers. Her gaze was open and persuading and he found himself taking in a huge breath before starting talking.

He told her everything just like he remembered it. The Inventor, his never-ending sleep, years of solitude. Then a woman named Peg entered the story and Edward told Rose all about their meeting and the Boggs family and their neighbors, and Kim. Edward's voice shook a little at the end of his story, but he couldn't stop talking once he'd started, and he described how the townsfolk chased him away, Kim's boyfriend attacked him and in turn, was killed by Edward. The scissor-handed boy ended his story with Kim's goodbye.

The room went perfectly silent after his last statement. Edward suddenly lost all the comfort he'd had a few minutes ago and for some reason, couldn't look at Rose. Not after he told her he's a murderer! Instead, he sat still, staring at the opposite side of the room.

Edward felt Rose shift a bit next to him and for a brief second he thought she's leaving. Then, he felt an arm sneaking around his shoulders in a friendly, soothing manner. He froze, not daring to move.

"Thank you." He heard her whisper. He shivered and immediately, she took her hand away from his shoulder and used it to wrap the blanket around him more tightly. After a moment of hesitation, Rose rested her head on top of his shoulder. "Thank you for telling me."

Edward was still tense when he heard the girl's breath becoming steady and she said nothing else. A long time passed before he finally turned his head towards her, sneaking a peek at her face. Rose was asleep. The scissor-handed boy continued watching her openly now. For a minute there, he saw his father, the Inventor, collapsing on the floor all of a sudden. But then he remembered what Peg had told him about sleep; that every human being had to sleep in order to function normally. What had happened to his creator is called 'death'. Edward still couldn't understand this 'death' thing, but one thing was for sure – whoever becomes 'dead', they are not waking up. Ever. Edward remembered Peg's pained expression when she'd said those things to him.

Blinking, Edward snapped out of his daze. His eyes roamed over Rose's face one last time before he hesitantly lowered his head and put it on top of hers. She stirred slightly, but didn't move. Edward released the breath he was unconsciously holding. He closed his eyes and waited for morning to come.


	13. Stalked

_I seriously would have done nothing if it weren't for R__eaders and Reviewers, especially the following:_

Linalove_, _SeventhSister_, _Hari-chan15_, _Nala162024_, _WrathoftheElite_, _luvisluv13_, _kuraikami_, _Katt the Pirate_, _Jen_, _AnimeFanGirl167_, _Scilla E._ and _VampireAngel13

_You guys are great. Thank you!_

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen:**** Stalked**

18 more minutes until the bell. Rose tugged her sleeve down to hide her watch and put her chin in her palm, sighing. 18 minutes until the first period was over. Time seemed to go painfully slow that day. To think that the early morning zoomed by so fast!

Rose recalled waking up early, much earlier than usual, and than it was necessary. She was cold, stiff and disoriented as to _why_ was she sleeping in a sitting, curled up position on the floor, right next to her warm, comfy bed. The blanket had fallen off her shoulders and, she had to blink several times to get rid of the blur, wondering if she was seeing right. The blanket was cut in a few places near the hem. Confused, she tried to get up, only to find out she can't feel her legs. Rose waited a moment, blinking, yawning and shaking her head. She took a peek at the window and slumped back when she noted the color of the sky. It must've been just a bit after dawn. She groaned.

"Are you okay?"

Rose jumped, forgetting about her stiff legs and getting up in a second. She looked in the direction of the soft voice and just then realized everything. Edward was standing near the drawer, his blades twitching and scraping against each other, making that odd snipping sound. He was staring at Rose with a worried expression and wide eyes.

"Edward!" she said, remembering to keep her voice down. She sat back down on the bed, stretching. "How was your sleep?"

"Um," he blinked "Peaceful."

"Good," Rose finished stretching and got up, walked towards the closet and fished out some fresh clothes. "Give me 20 minutes and we'll be on our way." She uttered, her hand on the doorknob. She looked at him with a tired smile. She wanted to say something more, but closed her mouth and exited the room.

26 minutes later she returned, dressed in a thick white sweater and pants, her untied shoes on her feet and hair combed nicely and tied in the usual ponytail.

"Now," she began, bending down to tie her shoes "We will have to be very, and I mean _very_ careful on our way down." My parents shouldn't wake up until around 6 and it's…" she glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand "It's…"

It was 5:52

"Oh…" Rose muttered a curse under her breath and finished tying her shoes "We have to move it."

Edward's blades snipped against each other again as he stood still, nervous. Rose took her bag and motioned him to be quiet one last time before they both walked out of the room.

The shrill sound of the bell made Rose jump suddenly, her pencil case landing on the floor. Some heads turned to look at the noise and she blushed, bending down and gathering her things quickly before putting them in her bag and leaving the classroom. She had to stop by her locker to get her textbooks before the second period. She entered the combination and opened the locker. After getting the books she needed, she closed the door and turned to walk towards the classroom, when she noticed a group of people standing a few lockers away from hers.

Jason and his male friends, along with some girls Rose remembered to be on the cheerleading team. They were standing in a circle and laughed loudly every couple seconds. The girl frowned when she remembered how her childhood best friend treated Nina. She knew she should talk to him about it, but she couldn't catch him when he was alone. He was always surrounded with people. Especially girls.

Rose sighed softly, knowing she could just catch him some other time. Though, she had a feeling their friendship changed and will never be the same.

Then, the bell rang again, announcing the beginning of the second class. Rose reached the classroom and sat down in her usual spot, getting out her books and letting her thoughts return to the events a few hours prior.

Thankfully, she and Edward were able to get out of the house without any problem. The journey up the hill was quiet; Rose was still half-asleep and couldn't bring herself to talk, and Edward was never the one to initiate a conversation anyway. They reached the gates and Rose was not in the least surprised to see a lot of beer cans and bottles lying around and the beautiful green statues decorated with toilet paper. Edward, however, was stunned.

"Why did they do this?" he asked the first question that came to mind.

Rose shrugged "Probably because they were drunk and bored. You should be grateful they didn't do anything worse." She tried smiling reassuringly at him "At least the figures are still standing, yeah?"

Edward did not return her smile.

* * *

Rose wished time would go quicker than that. She walked slowly towards the classroom for her third period, feeling the lack of sleep in the morning. Her eyelids felt heavy and she hoped she won't fall asleep during class.

"Whoah!" someone's voice rang just a few inches before her and Rose blinked rapidly, looking up. Jason was grinning, his hands held up. "Careful there, Ro'."

Again with the stupid nickname. Rose shook her head and rubbed her left eye with her palm. "Sorry Jas," she said simply, sure he would just pass her and be on his way.

"Hey, are you all right?"

She stopped short at the sudden question. Looking up again, her eyes met his and she blinked again. "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm… I'm okay, just tired."

"You sure?" now, why did his concern puzzle her so much? Maybe they did drift apart badly over the years, but he still was her best friend. Rose frowned, feeling a bit confused.

"Yes. I'm all right." She said, biting her tongue before se could add the 'why?'.

"Well, okay then," Jason nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Couldn't sleep last night?"

It was an innocent, maybe a tad teasing question; but it made Rose suspicious nonetheless. "I slept perfectly fine yesterday." She replied, a bit more defensively than she meant to "I wasn't the one partying all night, was I?"

Jason brushed the bitter tone off, laughing. "I guess so. You really should have come, you know, it was a blast."

"I don't doubt it." Rose could not contain the anger as the image of the state of Edward's mansion was in that morning and Nina's story filled her mind. "Jason, we need to talk."

"Uh, okay," the boy shrugged, feeling put off by the tone of her voice, but grinned "After school?"

"I have to take care of a few things first, so later. Do you have the time?" the last bit came out like a sneer and Jason didn't miss it.

"Rose, you know I always can find time for you."

This made the girl blink, mouth slightly open. How should she respond to something like that? And his expression when he said it was so sincere…

"I…Okay." Rose's shoulders slumped slightly as her anger seemed to dissolve a tiny little bit. "I'll… I'll come by your house sometime after school." Suddenly regretting the way she'd treated him, she added a meek "Is that okay with you?"

Jason grinned disarmingly again and put his hand on her shoulder. "Great! I'll be waiting." With a playful wink, he let his hand slide down her arm and resumed walking down the hall towards his own classroom. Rose stood in her spot, gazing at Jason's back. All of a sudden, she didn't feel strong or angry enough to confront him at all.

Instead of listening to her English teacher and taking notes like she should have, Rose sketched curves and squares in her notebook idly, staring out the window mindlessly. From her spot she could see a bit of the hill and the dark-looking mansion. It really looked gloom and scary form the outside. Yet, it had that odd, fascinating aura that drew some people to it – not many people, especially not those who live in the small town. Those, who value their perfect lives where everyone had their place. The mansion did not match the rest. But then again, Rose mused, a smile tugging at her lips unconsciously, neither did she.

Her thoughts of the manor soon linked with Edward. Rose's dreamy-like smile widened. She was past the point of caring whenever he was human or not; whenever he was _complete_ or not. Edward was just… Edward. If only he was given a chance, he would prove to everyone that he's a far better human than most of the townsfolk. And – again, the corners of Rose's lips went up further – he was her friend. That talented, sweet, kind, caring, timid, charming, cute…

The bell rang, sending Rose a few inches in the air. Her heart beating way too fast for her liking, she stood up shakily and gathered her things, in a rush for lunch.

* * *

_'What the hell was that?!'_ Rose unwrapped her sandwich, sitting down on one of the benches in front of the building. The sky was dark grey and the heavy clouds looked ready to be ripped apart by heavy rain. Or snow. Since it was late November, Rose expected it to snow anytime now. She hoped for white Christmas. The darkest, biggest clouds seemed to gather in one spot – right above the castle. Noting that with a bit of surprise, Rose's thoughts began to wander again.

How did that happen, exactly? How did Rose end up befriending not only a social outcast, but also someone who was considered a murderer and very dangerous to society? Why didn't she run away that night? Among all the questions, Rose was sure of one thing – she did _not_ regret staying.

_'So what if he's a little… different than the rest?'_ she mused, munching on her sandwich _'He doesn't have hands, but he does have twice as many values as any other person in this friggin' town.'_

Satisfied with her last thought, Rose finished her lunch and just sat there, gazing at the dark mansion. _'Still, it's all so unfair… He should be given another chance, but this time, I would help him. Because we're friends… Because he deserves it.'_

The bell announced the end of lunch break, making Rose rise slowly from her seat. She dragged her feet back to the building with a strange desire to be elsewhere. Mainly, the only place everyone else was sure to avoid.

* * *

During the final period which Rose and Jason shared, the boy noticed she seemed kind of edgy, like she really wanted to get out of there. Not that it was an unusual thing among students, but it was odd nonetheless. She kept glancing at her wristwatch, at the door and through the window constantly and when he finally met her gaze, she smiled in a somewhat nervous manner before looking down at her watch again.

After school ended, Rose bolted out of her seat and was gone much quicker than the rest of the students. Jason gathered all his things and, curiosity taking better of him, followed his friend.

The boy was surprised, to say the least, when he saw Rose once again near the steep hill, looking up at the dark building with a strange expression. She stood there for a short while before beginning to climb up. She moved fast and with confidence, as if she was aware what was she doing and where was she headed. Jason waited a while longer and stalked after her. Just _what_ was she looking for?

Rose reached the gate and pushed it open without hesitation. She blinked, pausing her walk. The front yard was cleaned, all the trash that had been lying there in the morning disappeared without a trace. _'Edward must've taken care of it all,'_ she mused with a smile. _'Even though I promised to help.'_

She walked towards the door and opened it carefully so to not startle Edward in case he'd be somewhere near. She poked her head in and looked around; he wasn't, but neither was the garbage. It was as if no party had taken place here the day before.

Rose went inside and closed the door behind her without turning around. If she did, however, she'd notice Jason who had just arrived at the front gate, a confused and thoughtful look on his face.


	14. Surprises, Surprises

Linalove_, _Hari-chan15_, _blacklace-and-roses_, _justanothergaarafangurl_, _kuraikami _(loved the dialogue, lol), _SeventhSister _(I've had the same dilemma – see what I've chosen in the end :D), _Katt the Pirate_, _Jen_, _Nala162024_, _luvisluv13_._

_Thank you all so much for being with me for such a long time! Hopefully you will stay to the very end :)_

_And now for the plot to unravel. Hope you like this turn of events, I couldn't bring myself to make it go the other way._

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: ****Surprises, Surprises**

Rose looked around the enormous hall. It never ceased to amaze her, no matter how many times she'd visited. She could barely see anything due to the windows being completely covered up, but small rays of sun still managed to pour into through the gaps. The hall was filled with rock human-shaped statues that were casting shadows in a very unsettling manner. As if the cold, empty space was full of people. It was both disturbing and fascinating.

Edward heard the front door close and jumped from his corner, making his way to the stairs and feeling his heart picking up speed. _'Rose is here…!'_ He was almost all the way down and noticed Rose standing in the center of the hall, her back facing him. Edward could feel his lips stretch on their own accord, but then froze before jumping back into the shadows. His back pressed against the stone wall as he held his breath. The front door opened again and another person came in.

Jason.

"Rose?" Edward flinched as Rose jumped violently, spinning around to face the boy.

"Jason!" she cried out, her hand clenching the front of her shirt "God, you scared the living _hell_ out of me!"

"Sorry," the teenager put his hands up, coming closer. "What are you doing here?"

"I, uh…" Edward felt completely numb as Rose stuttered for an answer. "I was… Just… Oh, God," suddenly, her posture changed; she seemed a bit less tense and even crossed her arms, shrugging nonchalantly. The tone of her voice was very weird as she said the words that almost made Edward's heart shatter. "I'm on a date here,"

_'No!'_

"A date?" Jason stared at her, but unlike Edward, he must've caught the meaning of her tone because he laughed. "Of course you are. With the ghosts of the past, I assume?"

"That's right," Rose grinned, her voice back to normal again. "This place is… Well, I think it's kind of um, _creepy_. But, as you know, creepy always seemed to attract me."

"Yeah, I know." Jason replied, smiling. He took another step closer "That's why you keep coming back?"

"I've only been here twice, you know." She said, bravely staring him in the eye as she lied fluently "Once before, when you caught me with your friends, and now… Jason," she looked at him sharply "Are you stalking me?"

The boy laughed again, taking another step towards her. Edward wished he'd stop that, he was already too close to Rose for his liking. He wondered how did she do that. She told Jason the truth (why _did_ she do it, anyway?) and he didn't believe her, treating it like a joke. Shaking the musings off, Edward made sure he's completely covered and unseen and continued to watch the scene below.

"Of course not, Rose." Jason said "Not then, anyway. I noticed your strange behavior at school today and it got me worried, all right? So I wanted to know what's up."

"So you followed me here?" Rose frowned "You know, that _is_ stalking."

"This is the thing you have to take care of?" he suddenly asked "Coming here, standing in the middle of this abandoned shithole and acting all hypnotized? A _date with the ghost_?"

"I don't see how it's any of your business what kind of things I have to take care of," the girl uttered defensively "As a matter of fact, no, _this_ isn't what I wanted to take care of."

"_You_'re the one who wanted to talk, Ro'."

"Do you **want** to talk to me?"

The boy blinked, caught off guard. "Well, duh! We're friends, aren't we?"

_Aren't we?_

"Okay then, let's talk." Rose wanted to get Jason out of there in case he'd see Edward. She didn't notice the scissor-handed boy and she hoped he wasn't in the garden, ready to appear any time now. She had to get out of there and take Jason with her, make him forget all about her fascination with the manse and… well, talk about how he treated Nina. "How about that place with the delicious hot chocolate?"

Jason grinned charmingly. "Wonderful idea you got there."

"I'm full of those," she said dryly, making her friend laugh again. "Lead the way, then."

* * *

_What just happened?_

Edward staid in his spot, pressed against the wall in the dark shadows in the middle of the staircase, breathing regularly. His heartbeat slowed down and was back to normal. His legs stopped shaking a while ago. Rose and Jason had left a long time ago, maybe 30 minutes. Still, Edward could not will himself to move.

Rose had come to him, to see him. But someone else, that boy who reminded him so much of Jim, Rose's friend… He came here, too. Uninvited. _Again_.

Edward pushed himself off the stone wall, his blades scrapping against it loudly. The noise made him pause and he looked down at his sharp fingers. They gleamed weakly in the small bit of light. The gleam reflected in his black orbs.

Edward stood on the dark staircase, his blades scrapping against themselves noisily as his face furrowed in a mixture of sadness and anger.

-

"…And he totally missed that!" Jason narrated one of his many victories at basketball "Can you believe it? He was inches away from the ring, and he _missed_."

"Hmm," Rose hummed, sipping on the delicious drink and trying to think of a smooth, subtle approach about the thing she wanted to talk about. Not only to clear things out, but also to make Jason shut up; he's been annoying her ever since they sat down at the table.

"So I grabbed the ball, and I –"

"Why did you do that?" So much for being subtle.

"Huh?" Jason blinked "Well, I wanted to win, that's why!"

"I'm not talking about basketball," Rose set the cup down and locked her eyes with Jason's, determined not to break the eye-contact while clasping her hands nervously under the table "I'm talking about Nina."

"Nina?" for a second, Jason truly looked dumbfounded before a light bulb went off "Oh yeah, that chick I went out with a couple times?" he suddenly chuckled "Talk about ancient history."

"I heard it was a bet," she narrowed her eyes.

"It was," the boy shrugged "And I did tell her that."

"After you won!"

"Hey, it was nothing serious, just the typical stuff friends do. I took her to the cinema, for lunch, for a walk, that's it. We talked and just hang out together." It was his turn to frown "Is _that _what you wanted to talk about?"

"Jason," Rose began "She happened to have this major crush on you back then, you simply used her to get some money!"

"It was for fun!" the boy defended himself "Adam did the same thing to some other girl, and after he told her it was a bet, he took her out for dinner, paid for it with the cash he won because of her and they remained friends!"

"But Nina _liked_ you!" Rose's voice grew louder "Couldn't you see that? She liked you and thought you're being serious!"

"Well, she thought wrong!" Jason also raised his voice "It wasn't that big of a deal, anyway! I never kissed her, or told her I liked her! Whatever shit she read between lines is not my problem."

"Well, it is my problem now," Rose lowered her eyes to the empty cup "Because she's my friend."

"Rose," Jason leaned in slightly "I'm really sorry your new friend got hurt because of me, I didn't mean it. From the very beginning to the very end, it was nothing serous and I tried to point that out. Anyway, it's all ancient history now, and I think it would be best if Nina finally moved on."

Rose was silent for a moment, still looking down at the table. "Do you have any idea," she began in a quiet voice, slowly bringing her eyes up to meet his "how much you've changed?"

Jason's handsome face broke into a small smile. "I could say the same thing to you, you know." At her confused expression, he added "You actually look like a girl now!"

"Hey!" she protested and tried to swat him on the arm, but he ducked out of the way and laughed. Rose huffed, crossing her arms. "I take it back, you haven't changed that much."

"You sure did, you're way prettier now," he winked playfully and had to avoid another hit that came his way. Rose looked annoyed, but her cheeks were tinted pink.

_'Whatever happened between Nina and him, it's not any of my business,'_ she concluded as she waved Jason good-bye in front of the small café, feeling rather satisfied _'I should not interfere in the first place. But I'm glad I had the chance to talk to Jason without his friends around… Despite some small changes, I'm glad to know he's still my friend…'_

Which reminded her of another friend who she wanted to visit… Even though it was getting late, Rose needed to see Edward. But first… she felt like she needed to stop by her house.

* * *

_What the hell am I doing?_

Rose was walking back from the café, but instead of turning in the direction of the hilltop manse like she should have, she was walking back home. Her first plan was to walk towards her house in case Jason would think about following her again, but then she was supposed to turn in an alley that would take her to the bottom of the hill. But that somehow didn't happen and Rose could already see her light beige house in the distance. She frowned, but did not stop.

_'Oh well, might as well make use of it and change,'_ she thought as she entered the house, coming face to face with her grinning mother.

"Well, well, well," Mrs. Wheeler grinned in that peculiar way as Rose closed the door behind her. "Did you have fun?"

"Fun? Mom, I was at school." She deadpanned.

"Yes, but I meant _after_ school," the woman's smile widened "Mrs. Jennings called me and said that Mrs. Bergin claims that Mrs. McGinley saw you and Jason together in town!"

Rose stared at her mother for a few seconds. "…What?"

"Oh, you don't have to hide anything from me," Mrs. Wheeler shrugged, that eerie smile still on her lips "I was quite happy to hear it, really. Next time, though, do tell me first, okay?"

"Uh," the girl blinked "Okay, whatever. I'm, I'm going to uh, Nina's now, just went back to change." With that said, Rose didn't waste any more time and raced upstairs, rolling her eyes at her mother's behavior.

* * *

The sky was turning black. Edward sat on the floor of his room, staring up through the hole in the roof. It was almost dark, and Rose still hadn't come.

Edward hoped she will.

Seeing her with that other boy made him feel strange, like sad and angry at the same time. Very odd, but he could vaguely remember feeling very similar things back then, when Kim used to walk away with Jim… Will Rose walk away, too? Edward closed his eyes and frowned. _Will she?_

"Edward?"

His eyes snapped open as he heard her voice. Scrambling to his feet quickly and awkwardly, Edward felt his heart picking up speed again, but this time, it was a pleasant feeling. He had wanted to see her as fast as he could. _And she came!_

"Hey, Edward, you up there?"

But what's with her voice? It didn't sound as cheery as before. Rose sounded as if she was nervous about something, nervous and unsure, and…

_'__Is she going to tell me good-bye?'_

Edward walked down the stairs, both overjoyed to see Rose and afraid of what she might say. _She's not going away, she's not going away, she's…_ He repeated over and over in his head.

But then he actually saw Rose, and his thoughts stopped short. Edward froze, his eyes widening and mouth opening on its' own accord.

Rose fiddled with her fingers nervously, standing in the middle of the hall and staring up at Edward, who had shock written all over his pale face. She could feel her face heating up pretty fast and the longer Edward stared, the redder it became. She bit her lip lightly before mustering a smile.

"Hi," she said shyly, wishing she'd apply at least some lip gloss, so that she would have something to lick off her suddenly dry lips.

* * *

_**A**__: So sorry for the long wait. Only one month of school left and it's holidays for me – but that one last month is the most intense one._

_I hope you liked the idea. __Let me know, please! :D_


	15. Suburbian Sunset

_I have survived. 2 more days to go and it's holiday time._

Hari-chan15_, _linalove_, _SeventhSister_, _Jen_, _blacklace-and-roses_, _Katt the Pirate_, _luvisluv13_, _piratejester_, _WolfxAngel_, _kuraikami_, _Rose_ (gasp! Poor you x[ )and _loganlethalhxc.

_THANK YOU!!_

_Oh, and extra congratulations to _**luvisluv13**_! You're good! :D_

_Time to slow down. This one's calm and relaxing, but I hope you'll like it just as much. Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen: Suburbian Sunset**

Rose had no idea where the sudden urge to change before seeing Edward came from. She used to visit him countless times after school, dressed like she was all day. But, as she reached her house, she figured it wouldn't hurt and would take only a minute, maybe two. Well, it didn't. Before changing, Rose decided to take a quick shower. She didn't even think about what was she doing, and came to her senses after getting her hair washed and dried, dressed in her favorite pair of close-fitting jeans and a warm, creamy sweater, with a bottle of perfume in her hands. Eyes widening at her mirror image, she applied the perfume, making sure it's only a few drops, and tied her hair up, even though she realized the waves looked pretty nice, for once. Her eyes lingered on the light pink lip gloss, but she shook her head and nearly ran out of the bathroom. Thankfully she remembered to take her backpack with the black plastic bags for the after-party cleaning, at least.

Standing in the middle of the dark hall, having Edward's eyes almost literally glued to her, Rose wondered if she'd over-done it. Too much perfume? She was sure it was only a little bit, barely noticeable! Or maybe it's her hair, did she mess up the ponytail again? _'Oh, God… Say something!'_

"E-Edward?" she cringed at the sound of her voice. She cleared her throat and tried again "Hey, is everything all right?"

Suddenly, he was by her side, the dazed look replaced by one of sadness, desperation, almost hurt. "Will you leave?"

"What?"

"Will you leave me?" he asked again, urgently.

"Why would I do that?" Rose couldn't understand the question. "Do you want me to leave?"

"**No!**"

Both of them were surprised at the loud, firm sound of his voice "I-I mean…" he tried to correct himself "You… I… Don't…"

He stopped short when he heard her laughing. He blinked, watching her as she tried to stifle the giggles and succeeded eventually. "Okay, I understand. You don't want me to go, I won't. But," she looked up at him with a small smile and curious eyes "Where did _that_ came from?"

"Um," Edward shifted "I… That boy… You sounded… I thought…"

"Okay, okay," Rose cut him off "Doesn't matter. Well," she put on a cheerful smile "I came here to help you with the trash, but I see you've beat me to it, huh?"

Edward smiled, feeling proud of himself. "I gathered everything in one spot. I thought it would be easier…" he trailed off.

Rose grinned at him, knowing a compliment or two would make his oddly low spirits sky rocket in no time "Great idea! This should go quicker than I thought! That was very kind of you, Edward."

Just like she imagined it, Edward's pale, scarred face broke into a wide smile and his eyes sparkled. Rose had to admit, he looked like a different person when he beamed like that, even though his tousled hair and all black leather clothing were the same. _'One smile can certainly change a person,'_ she mused, feeling her own smile widening.

"So, where is it?"

"In the back, I'll show you," he sounded excited, no doubt waiting for another compliment. Rose followed him out the castle and to the back garden, ready to give one to him with pleasure. Just to see him happy.

The pile of garbage was bigger than she could imagine. Beer cans, bottles, food wraps, toilet paper, even articles of clothing. The girl sighed, glad she'd bought quite a few plastic bags earlier that day, along with a pair of rubber gloves, bottled water and paper tissues, just in case. She set her backpack down, fished out the gloves and put them on. She straightened back up and was ready to begin, when she noticed Edward standing right next to the pile, fidgeting slightly. Waiting.

"Oh, Edward, very well done!" she said in a voice similar to the one she's been using when Denis was younger "This will make things much easier for me. Thank you."

Again, he beamed at her. "No problem, I wanted to help." He said modestly, a barely noticeable blush on his cheeks.

Rose began to pick up bottles and beer cans – which had a stab hole in them, indicating where Edward pierced them in order to pick them up – and throw them into the bags. She assured the scissor-handed boy she could manage it on her own and that he'd done much already, but he was determined to help her even more and proceeded to stab the cans with his fingers and shake them off inside the bags. They spent a couple of minutes doing that, when Rose reached out for yet another bottle (_'How many of them were here, anyway?'_) and noticed something. The sun was almost all the way below the horizon, only a small piece sticking out and painting the sky red and orange. Unconsciously, she straightened up and turned to face the setting sun. It was a very beautiful sight.

"Um, Rose?"

"Yes?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"What is _this_?"

She turned to look at Edward over her shoulder and nearly fell over. Something was dangling from one of his blades, something hot pink, small and pretty thin. A piece of clothing. Girls' underwear.

"Oh, for the love of-" Rose blushed heavily, snatching the panties and shoving them deep inside one of the half filled bags, thanking God she had her rubber gloves on.

"What was that?" Edward asked, genuinely curious. To him, it looked like a bunch of pink strings tied together.

"Ugh," she groaned "It was… Never mind, it was nothing important." _'Oh yeah, this party must've been a __blast__, all right,'_ she thought, picking up trash in a faster pace. Edward blinked, confused.

A longer while and a total of six and a half bags later, the two finally got rid of the last piece of garbage from Edward's estate. The first plan was to dump the garbage somewhere on her way home, but there was just too many of them and Rose really didn't want to keep running up and down the mountain to pick up everything. So, all that was left was plan B. Edward followed Rose closely as she moved the black bags near the edge of the hill on the other side of the mansion, a few feet away from their previous spot. He watched curiously as she picked up the first two bags and simply… thrown them off the mountain.

"Ah!" he gasped as she grabbed the next two, sending them flying just like the ones earlier. "R-Rose?"

"It's okay, Edward," she said as she continued disposing of the trash "I'm all for protection of the environment, but if I have to take my pick between your garden and the forest below, well…" she sent the last bag down and rubbed her gloved hands together with a smile on her face "I'm sure you'd pick the same option."

Rose returned to the place they occupied previously, took off her gloves and stashed them away in her backpack before sitting down. Now that the job was done, she could admire the view in peace. A few seconds later Edward joined her, sitting down cross-legged, his blades digging into the ground.

"Is it nice?"

Her soft voice made him turn to look at her questioningly. "Huh?"

"Is it nice," she repeated, not taking her eyes off the glowing spot that was getting smaller and smaller within seconds "to be able to watch _this_ every day?"

"Uh," Edward considered, tilting his head towards the setting sun "It is, sometimes." Truthfully, Edward didn't have anything else to do. All day he was either tending the garden, making new shrub sculptures, sometimes he'd walk around the huge castle, visiting every of its' rooms for the umpteenth time, knowing the whole layout by heart. If the chore list came to a stop, he sat in his room, watching the sky through the hole or gazing longingly at the pictures of human hands, wishing he'd have them too. He'd seen countless sunrises and sunsets, so it wasn't as breathtaking and impressive as it used to be a few years prior.

But, that day, it was different. Edward was sitting on the ground, for the first time in who knows how many years, he was _admiring_ the view before him. He watched as Rose's skin was slowly, gradually turning darker due to the lack of sunlight. Her lips were curled up a tiny bit and her eyes were shining with the last bits of sunrays. The hair that somehow made its' way out of the tight band was swaying gently in the wind, chocolate brown with a light, almost golden tint.

Unconsciously, Edward raised his right arm and wanted to brush away the long streak behind her ear, a manner he could recall very faintly from the past. But before he could touch her, he noticed that his blades are covered with soil. They gleamed and Edward immediately withdrew his hand, turning his head away.

"What are you thinking about?"

His eyes made their way back to her face which was now fully turned in his direction. The soft, golden gleam had disappeared; the sun set completely. Rose was looking at him with a calm expression and that delicate smile still on her lips.

"Nothing," he murmured back, telling the truth.

"Nothing at all?" she inquired, leaning a little bit closer. "Because I'm thinking that -" she stopped abruptly as her smile widened.

"What?" Edward tilted his head questioningly.

"I like sunsets." She said simply, staring at the place above the horizon line the sun used to be mere minutes ago.

"Me too." He admitted "But not alone. I like sunsets with you."

Edward regretted the words almost instantly when he saw the startled look on her face and the wild blush that sprouted on her cheeks. Rose needed a moment to steady herself before smiling slightly.

"That's nice." And, almost hesitantly, added, "I like sunsets with you, too."

She meant it.

* * *

That blasted dog did it again.

Jason grit his teeth as he shoved yet another bush aside to make way for himself. He thought letting Bandit off the leash would be a good idea; the dog would finally have some space to run around, since the boy had taken him in a different direction, away from the houses and streets. He sacrificed his time and energy to circle the mountain in order to give his dog an empty field on the other side of the town.

Instead, it turned out that the open space was not as exciting as the forest nearby and so, the grown German shepherd decided to get lost among the trees.

"Bandit!" Jason called, but to dog did not come to him "That's the last time I'm letting you off the leash, idiot!"

Just then, he heard the familiar barking not too far away. A few seconds later Jason reached his dog and prepared the leash, but stopped short.

_What the hell?_

Bandit's head was stuck in one of seven black trash bags. Some of the garbage was sprawled around, since someone who had left them there didn't care for tying the bags up. There were mainly beer cans and some bottles.

"Bandit!"

The dog got his head out, turning to look at his owner curiously. He was holding something vibrant pink between his jaws. Something that looked surprisingly similar to –

"Put that down!" Jason shouted and the animal complied. Jason took a step forward and eyed the object. Oh, had he seen those already. They belonged to Dylan's girlfriend and if he remembered correctly, they were supposed to be some kind of trophy, but Dylan was too drunk to keep in mind taking them.

Still, that didn't mean anything. Maybe someone else was passing by and happened to have a similar pair they wanted to get rid of? Jason could not blame them, those were hideous.

He was about to walk away when his eyes landed on the beer cans again. They were of the same brand that the ones he and his friends used at the party, but again, it could be a coincidence. There weren't many different brands available around.

Jason sighed and rolled his eyes for being paranoid. And paused, staring at the dark, eerie castle that was right above him. He looked down again; noticing for the first time the cans had holes in them, as if they were pierced by a knife.

Or scissors.

* * *

_**A**__: Okay, so I could not help myself after all. Ha._

_Review, please! _


	16. The 'Dark Man'

WolfxAngel_, _love2daydream_, _SeventhSister_, _luvisluv13_, _Jen_, _Troily_, _Mangafan14_, _Jesse-Renee_, _A Flaming Moon_, _SaveOurSharks2664_, _ThreeBooksInTheFire_._

_Thank you all so very much! I would've quit about thirteen chapters ago if it weren't for your lovely reviews!_

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen: The 'Dark Man'**

"Denis! Be careful with that, it's –"

"Okay, mom, I know how to –"

"Hey, have anyone seen the –"

"Pass the sugar, please!"

"Why the hell my coffee's cold?"

"Trevor! Watch your language!"

"Yeah! Be the hell nicer!"

"**Denis**!"

Rose sat at the kitchen table, massaging her temples. Usually, the mornings at the Wheeler household weren't as hectic. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler usually wake up earlier and were ready by the time Denis and Rose were up and all set for breakfast. Trevor was the last one to appear downstairs, still with that sleepy look on his face and, since he wasn't really talkative before nine, very quiet. After approximately 20 minutes everyone was full, awake and ready for the day to start.

But, there were those days impossible to predict, when everyone went positively crazy. Like that particular morning. Mom overslept and tried to make breakfast as fast as possible. Dad decided to drink not one, but two coffees. Denis had his mind set on baking cookies, or trying to anyway. Trevor was unusually aware and was busy talking through his cell phone while trying to make some coffee for himself. And Rose, well, she just _sat_ there, staring at her cereal and milk filled bowl. Just like every morning.

_'God, I am __so__ glad today's Saturday…'_ she mused, watching as her older brother paused his phone rants for a second to take a sip of his newly made hot coffee, only to discover it was still too hot.

"So, Rose," Mrs. Wheeler finally decided that Denis can be left alone as the cookies were put in the oven "How are things with Jason?"

The phone began to ring in the hallway and Mr. Wheeler got up to answer it. Trevor stopped fanning his burnt tongue and leaned against the kitchen counter, hanging up on whoever was on the other line. Denis threw his sister a glance before deciding that watching cookies being made is something more interesting.

"With Jason?" Rose repeated, blinking. "Uh, he's okay, I think."

Trevor couldn't help himself and rolled his eyes. "You _think_?"

Rose frowned. "What? Last time I've seen him, he was fine."

"Oh yes, the last time…" Mrs. Wheeler grinned "Wasn't that in that cute little café down the road?"

"Well…" Rose felt her cheeks growing warm "Yes. But we're friends, we have to talk sometime, and there's really not enough time for that at school."

"Mrs. McGinley said Mrs. Wilson saw you two were flirting like crazy," her mother uttered with an innocent smile. "Now honey, don't get me wrong, I'm actually quite delighted to know that you and –"

"Whoah!" the girl cut her off, getting redder "No, _no_, _**no**_! Jason and I are friends."

Mrs. Wheeler looked a bit disappointed by that, but shrugged "Well, okay then. But promise," she leaned forward, a curious spark in her eyes as she continued in that rumor-lover's voice "to keep me informed, all right?"

"Yeah…" Rose looked down at her plate, wishing her face would return to its' normal color. Mrs. Wheeler smiled once again and walked out of the kitchen, leaving her children alone. Soon, Denis got bored of staring at the oven window and left as well.

_'I should go and see Edward,'_ Rose mused, finishing her breakfast_ 'He seemed really sad yesterday, after the whole thing with Jason… Afraid I'd leave him, too, just like that other girl…'_

"I always knew you two won't end up together."

Her head snapped up and she glared at Trevor for interrupting her train of thoughts. "Oh, yeah?" she said, wondering what did he mean "Why?"

The boy shrugged. "I dunno. You just… don't _look_ good."

"Geez, what a way to make a girl feel pretty." Rose snorted "Really, Trev, how come you're such a playboy?"

"I didn't mean _you_, I meant you and Jason," Trevor rolled his eyes again "Now that he's changed so much, you two don't seem right for each other."

It was not like Trevor to be that vague. Rose raised an eyebrow. "Not that it's any of your business who I'd like to date and all, but what do you mean?"

Trevor sighed. "When you were younger, you seemed almost perfect for each other – mom was sure that it would end with a wedding once you two grow up."

The girl reddened again. "Ugh, we were what, _eleven_?"

"I know, but that's beside the topic. I've seen how Jason acts in school and well…" Trevor trailed off "You're right, that's not my business."

"Come on!" Rose leaned in as her brother took a sip of his drink "You might as well finish where this was going."

The boy set the cup down and looked his sister right in the eye. "I don't want you to be another girl on his list." He paused for a second and released a quiet chuckle "God, that sounded awfully cliché."

_**"Sounds cliché, doesn't it?"**_

Rose blinked. _'It seems everything about Jason sounds cliché now,'_ she thought. Just then she realized what her brother had said. He broke eye-contact and his eyes settled on the cup that was back in his hands.

"Sorry if I sounded like mom or something," he uttered quietly "But I'm really trying to… protect you. Make it up to you."

She realized he was talking about the past. "Trevor," her voice shook ever so slightly "I've forgiven you and left it behind, like you said I should. You don't have to try so hard, or protect me from anything."

"But I have to," Trevor's solemn face broke into a wide grin. "It says so in the Big Brother Code." He finished his coffee and put the cup in the sink before heading at the door. As he passed Rose, he ruffled her hair affectionately "It also says Little Sisters should listen to Big Brother's advices."

"Oh, screw you," Rose snapped, swatting his hand away. A smile tugged at her lips.

"Such language!" her brother gasped dramatically "Mom, did you hear that?!"

"Shut up!" she tried to hit him, but Trevor was out of her reach. He stuck his tongue out and exited the kitchen. Rose glared angrily at where he was standing mere seconds ago before bursting into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

* * *

"It's only a week before December…"

Rose sighed and rested her chin in the palm of her hand, looking around the pizza place. Her eyes traveled aimlessly around as she continued to sip on her Coke through the straw as Nina finished her fourth slice of pizza.

"Yea, so?" the blonde said between chews.

"I wonder when will it snow already," Rose sighed again "I'm hoping for some White Christmas this year."

"You know," Nina paused to drink half of her Coke in three big gulps "Now that I think about it, we've only had snow on Christmas a few years ago."

"What?"

"Uh huh," the girl nodded "I was maybe 5 or 6, maybe a bit older. It snowed hard for a few days, and lasted for about a few weeks, I can't remember. But it never snowed since."

"Why?" Rose asked.

"How should I know?" Nina shrugged "My parents blame it on global warming. Sometimes it seems that global warming is their answer for everything bad that's going on. No snow, the flowers in the garden die, my grades are low… It's all global warming's fault."

"Ha," Rose chuckled "I wish my grades were dependant on things like that. My parents simply say I study too little."

Nina smirked. "Boring." She finished the Coke and laughed suddenly "If you think that's funny, just listen to what my grandma thinks! I asked her where snow comes from, and she told me this silly legend,"

Rose blinked. "A… legend?"

"Yeah. She heard it from her mother when she was young. She said it only snows when the 'dark man' is happy. She said he also likes snow, but it won't fall if he doesn't feel happy enough." Nina rolled her eyes "No offense to my grandmother and all, I love her very much, but that's about the most stupid thing I've heard."

"The 'dark man'?" Rose stiffened.

"Kind of stupid, huh?" the blonde shrugged "On top of everything, she said he lives in that huge, scary mansion. You know, the one that's –"

"I know." Rose interrupted suddenly before grinning sheepishly "Kinda hard to miss, don't you think?" she uttered nervously.

"Tell me about it."

A few minutes later, the two girls exited the pizza place and began to head towards Nina's house, which was the closest. They chatted about everything and nothing in general, but then Nina turned serious all of a sudden.

"You know," she began "I don't get those notes anymore."

"Well, that's good." Rose smiled "Right?"

"Definitely," the blonde said strongly "But… When I was in the bathroom one day, one of Ella's friends came up to me and…"

"Wait, who's Ella?" Rose asked, blinking as she tried and failed to recall the name.

"Ella is… She's Jason's last girlfriend," Nina explained somewhat uncomfortably "Anyway, that girl, Ella's friend, she… well, she _apologized_. She said she left some of the notes in my locker because Ella told her to, but Ella said it's _not cool_ anymore and ordered her friends to stop." she stared at the pavement for a few seconds, lost in her own thoughts, before looking up with a somewhat dazed expression, her eyes meeting Rose's "Can you imagine?"

_'Jason must've told that Ella girl to stop,'_ Rose realized as her eyes widened _'I had no idea he'd keep his word on this one,' _ She remembered that after confronting him about that bet thing, she had also mentioned those nasty notes in Nina's locker. Jason had promised he'd do something about it. Apparently, he had 'done something', something that worked.

"Oh," she let out, realizing Nina's waiting for some kind of answer "Well, that's… nice, I guess. Maybe Ella finally realized she's pathetic." _'Or someone told her that. Someone like Jason, perhaps?'_ "Anyway, I'm glad they stopped."

"She _was_ being pathetic," Nina concluded, looking to the side "And I will continue hating her. Still, I can't help but wonder… What made her change her mind so suddenly?"

"Oh, I wouldn't think about it too much," Rose shrugged, "Whatever it was, it's about time it happened."

Nina smiled a bit. "Yeah." She looked up again and her smile widened. "Thanks."

"No problem," Rose replied, grinning.

They resumed walking and chatting, the light atmosphere back. Upon reaching Nina's house, the blonde waved shortly and headed for the front door. Rose was about to continue walking, when a thought hit her.

"Hey, Nina,"

She turned "Yeah?"

Rose smiled brightly "This year, we _will _have White Christmas!"

Nina stared at her friend for a second before blinking and bursting into laughter. "I'm sure!"

It was getting darker and darker as evening came slowly. Rose found herself enjoying evenings more and more, since it was the best time of the day to visit her – she released a quiet giggle at the thought – best friend. But before going there, she had to stop by her house to pick something up. Something she was sure Edward would like.

* * *

Edward's head snapped up suddenly, his eyes widening and gaining that soft, excited spark just like every single time he'd heard _that_ sound. Strange how it worked, but his ears were able to pick it up immediately. That all-too familiar creek of the front door, not exactly the quietest of sounds, but picking it up from the attic was difficult, to say the least.

Then came the next sound, the one that made his lips do that funny stretch called a smile. Footsteps.

"Edward!" her voice was hushed, yet still loud enough to be heard clearly even in the attic. He stood up, eyes set on the top of the stairs, where she would appear mere seconds later.

Rose climbed the flight of stairs, not looking up from the steps until she reached the very top. Just then did she raised her gaze to look at Edward and was immediately hit by the sight before her.

He was smiling widely at her.

Feeling herself smiling back and blushing lightly at the same time – _'It's from the climb,'_ she thought, nodding mentally to herself_ 'Yes, I'm definitely out of shape, must work on that.'_ – she slid the backpack from her shoulder.

"Hey, Edward," she greeted her friend "How was your day?"

"Good," Edward uttered, eyeing her curiously as she bent down to fish something out of the bag. "I trimmed the shrubs and made a new figure…"

"That's great," she said, somewhat absent-mindedly, then let out a small cry of 'ah-ha!' and straightened up, a plastic bag filled with round, brown objects in her hand. "I hope you like chocolate chip cookies," she grinned.

"… Cookies?" Edward couldn't recall ever trying that kind of food. From where he was standing, it didn't look like the delicious things he'd eaten in the past. However, he did remember that chocolate cake Rose had brought some time ago and was more than willing to try something which tasted like _that_.

"Yup," Rose moved closer to the wall, right next to the unused, hand pictures-covered fireplace and sat down, leaning against the cold stone wall. With a simple gesture of her hand she invited Edward to sit next to her and opened the bag "My little brother made them this morning and I managed to snatch some before the rest of the family got to them. For such a small kid, Denis sure knows how to cook."

Edward eyed the round, dry cookies curiously. He watched as Rose took one and bit off half of it, munching happily.

"Well?" she asked as she swallowed the first bite "You wanna try?"

Curiosity got the better of him and Edward raised his hand to take one cookie from the bag. He tried to fit his scissors into the bag, but it was too small and he couldn't. With a small sigh of defeat, he withdrew his arms.

"Oh, here," Rose finished the first cookie and took another one out, bringing it close enough to the boy's mouth for him to bite. He cast her a brief, unsure glance before leaning in slightly and taking a small bite of the brown, round snack.

"Mm," he murmured after a while "Good. It's good."

"I told you," Rose encouraged him to take another, this time bigger bite and watched him munch happily. His eyes were closed as he savored the delicious chocolate flavor. He gulped it down and leaned in to finish the cookie. He took the remaining piece in his mouth and his lips accidentally brushed against her fingers. Rose pulled her hand away quickly, as if her skin had gotten burned from the sudden contact. Rose felt the blush sprout on her neck and face and all of a sudden noticed how silent they were. Thankfully, Edward was too caught up with the snack to notice her discomfort.

"Ah," she began, clenching the hand he accidentally touched "W-would you like some, some more? The cookies, I mean,"

"Yes, please," Edward fixed his gaze at the plastic bag in her lap. He watched as Rose took out another cookie – how ever could he doubt their delicious taste? – and brought it close to his face. He was so concentrated on taking a bite that he didn't notice the slight shaking of her hand. This time however, the girl was careful not to let _that_ happen again. So, as he leaned in to eat the rest of the cookie, she almost threw it into his mouth and took her hand away.

A few minutes later the last cookie disappeared inside Edward's mouth and Rose put the empty bag in her jacket's pocket. She leaned against the wall and looked up at the sky through the hole. Heavy gray clouds hung above, making the sky starless and very dark.

"Do you remember when it last snowed?" she asked, folding her arms behind her head.

"There was snow," Edward said slowly, trying to remember "Some time ago. Not very long, but not really short, either. A few years."

"Do you think it will snow this year?"

"Maybe." Edward raised his eyes to the hole as well. Then, he looked at Rose's profile. "Would you like that if it did?"

"Sure!" she said enthusiastically, grinning "Snow's great. I really enjoy, you know, building a snowman, snowball fights, ice skating, everything."

"What's a snowman?"

Rose looked at the boy next to her with wide eyes before she remembered he never experienced the things other people find obvious and natural. "Well, you make three balls out of snow, one really big, the second a bit smaller and the last one even smaller, for the head. You put one on top of the other and decorate it with some rocks, or coal, or something. Anything you like. It's pretty simple, but fun when making."

"It's called a snowman, because it's made out of snow?" Edward blinked.

"Exactly,"

"Does he talk, or move, or –"

"Um, no." it was Rose's turn to blink "It's just a figure made of snow. Pretty much like the ones in your garden, but much more simple and not nearly as pretty." She smiled at him.

"Oh." Edward nodded to himself, believing he understood.

Still smiling, Rose returned her gaze to the sky. "I wish it would snow this year." She said softly, her voice barely above whisper.

Edward's eyes, however, didn't leave her face.


	17. Close Call, Again

SeventhSister_, _love2daydream_, _luvisluv13_, _WolfxAngel_, _Tanthalas Cullen_, _Alicia Strange_, _Sir Stud Muffin_, _Elianna1031_, _Phantom's Ange_, _Hari-chan15_, _drcookchick_, _Samantha-san13_, _My-Lover-Gren-Gren_, _VampireAngel13_, _Jen_ and _Marfuu_. Thank you all so very, very much! You're all so supportive and it makes me keep going!_

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen: ****Close Call, Again**

"Hey, grandma?"

The old woman lifted her gaze from her colorful knitting work to look at her grandson. She smiled kindly, eyeing him curiously.

"Oh dear," she uttered "I thought Christmas is still a month away. Time sure flies."

Jason blinked in confusion. "Christmas _is_ a month away, grandma," he said slowly.

"Oh, really?" the woman made a surprised face "Then why else would you come here?"

The boy finally caught her sarcasm and rolled his eyes. "I don't come to you only on Christmas," he said, getting annoyed by his grandmother's antics.

"Of course not," she nodded, still smiling kindly "Easter, too. Oh, and your birthday."

"Whatever," he almost regretted his decision, but it was too late now. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Just one thing?"

"Yeah."

"And I assume it's not something that would concern my well-being."

"Grandma…"

"Okay then, shoot."

Ever since he returned from the walk after discovering the trash that had been so similar with the 'left-overs' from the party, Jason had been thinking a lot, mostly about the ugly mansion. It was abandoned, that much was for sure; he'd been sober long enough to remember how a group of his friends and himself decided to take a trip around the building. They've been in every room possible, the attic included. There was nothing and no one. And even if there was some scary ghost from the past, it would chase a bunch of drunk teenagers away with pleasure, just like in the movies. But there was no scary ghost.

So, _why_ did he had those doubts?

He blamed his grandmother for that. She was the one who used to tell him silly legends about a dark but nice, scissor-handed man when he had visited her on various occasions when he was a kid. After all, she lived here all her life and claimed to be a little girl when she first saw the man. At a _barbecue party_, no less. When he was younger, he enjoyed the tales, fascinated with the character that was both frightening and very kind-hearted at the same time. Now, it was just a load of bullshit. What annoyed him the most was that his grandmother truly seemed to believe that.

"I wanted to ask you…" He trailed off. God, even to him it sounded so stupid.

"What is it, my dear, completely selfless grandson?"

Jason rolled his eyes again. Of course, his grandmother was not exactly like the rest of the suburbia's old folk. She could act nice and sweet like other grandmothers, but it was her way of masking sarcastic, snide comments. She liked to listen to rumors, but never spread them herself. It was still a bit of surprise to Jason that his grandmother had allowed his parents and him to live here with her.

"I wanted to ask you about that scissor-handed man you used to tell me about."

* * *

"Hi, Edward!" Rose greeted her friend cheerily "Got some more cookies for you!"

Edward's head snapped up as he shuffled his way towards her. "Cookies!" he smiled widely, making her laugh. Despite the cold, the two of them decided to go to the garden and took a seat on the cold ground, leaning against one of the massive sculptures.

It was a chilly but still pleasant Saturday afternoon. Edward managed to learn how to pick up the cookies by himself by taking them between his blades without crushing them, while Rose simply sat by his side, watching the heavy clouds roll by over their heads. Sometimes, she'd say something light and funny or ask him about anything that came to her mind and chuckle at Edward's attempt to reply with his mouth full.

An hour and a half later Rose's cell phone rang, startling Edward with its' loud ring tone. She smiled apologetically and picked up.

* * *

The old woman blinked and stared at her grandson as he took a seat in one of the armchairs. "E-excuse me?"

"Tell me about that guy from the mansion again," Jason said seriously, leaning back.

"You mean…" she stared at him before also leaning back in her armchair "But you never believed -"

"I don't." Jason cut her off "I just want to hear it again."

His grandmother regarded him for a while longer before sighing and folding her hands together. "Well," she began, somewhat hesitantly "I first saw him when I was about eleven years old…"

* * *

"Hello?"

"Hi," the all-too familiar voice greeted her "I was just wondering… Where are you?"

"What do you mean?" Rose got up and walked a few feet away from Edward, who was looking at her with big, curious eyes.

"Well, I called your house, but your mom said you were at um, Nina's place. So I called her, but she said you weren't there. So, where are you?"

"Wow, it must be pretty important, since you've put so much effort into trying to find me."

She had no idea why Jason's laugh irritated her so much. "Ro', are you hiding somewhere?"

"I'm not hiding," she said, sounding just a little upset.

"You're pretty evasive about your whereabouts, so I'm guessing you _are_ hiding." She could almost see his cheeky smirk "Let me guess, you're at your lover's place?"

She groaned loudly. "Jason…"

Edward's eyes widened. Jason. He knew that name. Rose was somehow talking to Jason through that little, loud thing in her hand she had called a 'phone'. She seemed angry as well. He got up, but didn't walk up to her. He stood there, watching her back as she continued to talk to _that boy_. Then, he shifted his gaze from her to the large horse statue there were leaning against. An idea sprouted in his mind suddenly and he lifted his scissors.

"Just kidding," Jason laughed again "But seriously, where are you?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Oh geez," it was his turn to groan "Okay, so don't tell me. I actually wanted to ask you something. You remember that party at Adam's, right? You know, the Christmas one?"

"Yeah, I remember." A lie. She had forgotten all about it.

"So, Adam's making the ultimate guest list and we need to know if you're coming?"

"Uh," she hesitated. Since she'd completely forgotten about the party, she also hadn't remembered to ask her parents if she could go or even think about if she _wanted_ to go. But, before she had the chance to do so, she heard herself saying, "Yeah, sure, I'll come."

"Great!" Jason replied "I'll tell Adam to put you on the list."

"Thanks." Just then did she realize what exactly had she done. Biting back a frustrated yell, she tried to sound casual.

She was about to say something nice to end the conversation, a simple 'see you' or something, when another voice rang from behind her. Quite clearly.

"Rose, look at this!"

Her heart skipped a beat. Edward's voice was really loud.

"Rose?" Jason called out over the phone. Judging from the strange tone he used, he must've heard it too "**Who** was _that_?"

The girl turned to throw Edward a terrified glance. He seemed not to understand his mistake, but caught on as soon as he saw her wide eyes. "I-I have to go now, see you at school."

"No, wait, Ros-" that's when she hung up.

The silence was horrible. Rose stared at her cell phone with her mind completely blank. Edward stood frozen, his eyes glued to her back. Several seconds passed, but neither of them moved nor spoke. Edward's blades scratched against each other, snapping him out of the daze. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. A few seconds later he tried again.

"R-Rose?" his voice cracked.

The girl didn't react at first, but then slowly turned around, pocketing her phone. She lifted her head to look at him and he noticed how pale her face was.

"Edward," she started, but couldn't find the words to finish.

The situation was bad, to say the least. Quickly, she tried to come up with a good lie that would cover everything. She tried to remember the names of boys from her class, but to her horror, she soon realized Jason knows pretty much everyone in their year, and she could safely assume he knew pretty much _everyone_ altogether. So, boys from school were out. She could tell it was Denis, but if Jason picked up as much as she thought he did, he won't believe it. Edward's voice is nowhere near her brothers'. _'What do I do now?'_ she asked herself, feeling helpless. _'What do I _do_?'_

"Rose?" the girl jumped slightly as the voice rang out from just behind her. "I… I'm…"

"It's okay." The answer was almost automatic. It was definitely not okay, but she couldn't blame Edward now. Rose looked at him and noticed how terrified he was. His originally white face seemed transparent, wide black eyes were glued to hers and his whole body was shifting in anxiety. "It's not… I mean, it's really okay. Everything will be fine."

She guessed her face didn't looked nearly as half as convincing as she sounded, judging by the petrified expression on Edward's face. So she cleared her throat and tried to smile. "So, what is it? What did you want to… show me?"

He blinked. "I… I made a new, um… I changed… One of the bushes…"

"Great! Let's take a look," Rose hated how she sounded, so high-pitched and nervous. The last thing she wanted was to make Edward feel worse than he already was.

The giant green horse was transformed into a smaller but still magnificent green panther in mid-jump. Looking at it, Rose had forgotten all about what happened for a few seconds. The panther really seemed like it had natural green fur and was frozen during a jump. Not thinking about what was she doing, Rose reached out to run her fingers alongside its' side, expecting to come in contact with soft fur instead of leaves.

"Amazing," she breathed out in wonder.

Edward watched her reaction closely and grew more and more calm – and pleased with himself – with every second. He knew he'd done something horrible; he didn't understand what, but he could see it clearly from Rose's earlier expression. But it didn't matter anymore, because he'd done something right again. Her lips began to do that twitch again and soon, she started smiling.

All worries faded away right there and then.

-

An half an hour or so later, Rose opened her front door, feeling tired. She really wished she could eat something and go to bed, but judging from the noise coming from the living room, it won't be easy this time. She could hear her mother talking and laughing loudly, her father throwing in his two cents and another voice. A familiar voice. Rose froze.

Denis emerged from the living room, holding three empty glasses. "Oh hi, Rose!" he greeted his sister "Could you help me with these?"

"Sure," she said, taking one glass from him and following him to the kitchen. She tried to catch that voice again, but her mother spoke up, taking about how she, Rose, still had some trouble making friends, let alone finding a decent boyfriend.

_'Wait, __**what**__?'_

Rose and Denis refilled the glasses with lemonade and returned to the living room. Their father was, as usual, seated in one of the armchairs, while Mrs. Wheeler was sitting on the couch, next to their guest.

Rose had almost dropped the glass she was holding.

"Hi," Jason sent her a smile and took the glass from her younger brother. "What's up?"

"Rose!" her mother exclaimed loudly "I was wondering where have you been!"

"Nina took me to the park," Rose noticed Jason's eyes gleam oddly when she said it, but she focused her attention on convincing her mother that it was true. "It's lovely."

"That's nice," Mrs. Wheeler nodded "I've been to the park just yesterday with Denis, it's very pretty, isn't it?"

"Oh yes, it's great." Jason's eyes narrowed at her, but Rose ignored him. She leaned against the other armchair, folding her arms defensively.

"Jason told us about his friend's Christmas party," Mrs. Wheeler began, frowning at her daughter slightly "Why haven't you told us you were invited?"

Rose shrugged "I forgot."

"Well in that case, good thing that Jason remembered, it still gives us time to go shopping."

"Okay," Rose replied simply, deciding not to argue with her mother in front of the smirking boy. She finally looked at him square in the eyes and he stood up.

"Is it that late already? I have to go home now, thanks for the lemonade and good time," Jason said, smiling at both her parents. He looked up suddenly "Would you mind walking me home, Rose?"

"That's so sweet, of course you may, darling," her mother gushed as Rose stared at him. She didn't even try to object or point out that she never asked for permission, just pushed herself off the armchair and smiled weakly.

"Of _course_ I will, Jas,"

-

"So, what did you do today?"

Rose frowned. "I think I already told you, back in the living room."

"I think you lied."

She looked at him sharply. "That's your problem, not mine."

"Rose, I told you I called Nina after calling your house, she said you weren't there." Jason's voice was calm and soothing; either he didn't really care or was very good at hiding it. "I just want to know what's up."

"Apparently, you called when I was out and on my way to her place." It was amazing how she could come up with lies – _good_ lies at that – as she went.

"Oh." He nodded to himself "Maybe."

Rose was glad he'd dropped the topic and was just about to start a new, safer one, when he spoke again.

"Who was that guy?"

"What guy?" she asked, maybe a bit too fast. Jason's eyes met hers.

"The one I've heard over the phone."

"How should I know? _You're_ the one who've heard him."

Jason was silent for a moment, looking straight ahead with a thoughtful frown on his face. "Was it…" he hesitated "Edward?"

Rose burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter the second that name left his lips. "Man, you're obsessed," she uttered, out of breath. The laughter died down and her heart began to beat normally again. She needed a fast distraction "I hope you're not _that_ jealous, or anything."

The boy regarded her shortly, before smiling awkwardly, his face growing red. "Sorry. It's just… My grandmother likes to mess with my head."

"I have to meet her sometime."

"I'd rather you not," he scoffed "She used to tell me this funny tales when I was a kid, and it kinda… Well, I… Not that I thought for a minute that any of it's true, but…"

"Seriously, I'd love to meet that woman," Rose looked at him "Who's Edward?"

"She said that's the name of the creep that's haunting the mansion up there," he nodded towards the dark building that was visible from probably every spot in Suburbia. "She said that she'd met him years ago at a… _barbecue party_." Suddenly, Jason laughed "Geez, I'm an idiot for bringing those ridiculous things up."

"Yeah, I know." Rose smiled, stuffing her shaking hands into her pockets to hide her nervousness. "How old was she when she met him?"

"Huh? Oh, around eleven," Jason blinked "Wow, that ghost must be really old, then."

"Uh huh," Rose murmured. "Maybe he's immortal."

The boy chuckled "Well, duh. Ghosts tend to be immortal. Hey, can we talk about something else? I feel like a moron because of that Edward freak."

Rose did everything she could to hide her anger. Edward was not a freak, a creep or a ghost. But then again, Jason could not know that. So she took a few seconds to calm down and get rid of the irritation as her friend changed the topic.

The two teens finally reached Jason's house and Rose bid him goodnight, wishing to be home as soon as possible. She was dead tired and needed to get some proper amount of sleep. It was a stressful day indeed; Jason had almost found out about Edward_. 'How come he's always _this_ close?'_ she mused, sighing. _'I need to be more careful.'_

The sky turned from dark gray to black and Rose smiled to herself, all traces of worry or irritation gone. The glittering stars reminded her of the sparks of pure joy in Edward's eyes.

* * *

_**A**__: The reason I've updated so quickly is that I'm going away for 2 weeks or more. But I promise to reply to your messages and update as soon as I'm back._


	18. Christmas Shopping

A Flaming Moon_, _SeventhSister_, _drcookchick_, _Marfuu_, _My-Lover-Gren-Gren_, _WolfxAngel_, _Cybernetic Mango_, _TornPrince'sSmile_, _KitKat-Pyrophobia_, _ren-hatake

_- I will never get tired of the reviews you're leaving. Promise._

_Also, thank you for the patience. I would love to update more often, but unfortunately, that does not depend solely on me. __By the way, isn't it odd reading about Christmas in the middle of Summer? Because it's very strange writing about it._

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen: Christmas Shopping**

"I _hate_ Christmas shopping…"

Rose smiled without looking up from the many bottles of after shaves for men. "It can't be that hard, just pick the one you think your dad might like."

Nina rolled her eyes, picking up another bottle. "I have no idea what he might like." She sprayed some of the perfume in the air and sniffed "Ugh," she wrinkled her nose "Disgusting."

"This one's pretty good," Rose handed her friend a bottle. She turned away from the counter and looked around. She already had presents for her family and was now helping Nina pick something for her father. In the meantime, whenever Nina was busy attempting to find something that would satisfy her and what might satisfy her father, Rose was looking around discreetly, searching for a present for someone else, someone who wasn't exactly a family member.

"That one smells nice," Nina said, bringing Rose's attention back to her "But I like that one, too." The blonde handed her two bottles "You decide."

Rose checked out the two perfumes and considered. "That one." She gave Nina the bottle she picked and set the other one back on the counter.

"Thought so too." Nina took it and sniffed one last time. She nodded in satisfaction and turned to the cashier to pay for it. Rose returned to her search. "So, are we done?" the blonde asked after putting the bottle away in her bag.

"I think so," Rose said absent-mindedly, ripping her eyes away from a small, brightly decorated Christmas tree standing behind the glass window in one of the shops. She glanced at Nina and gave her a smile before her eyes settled on something above the girl's shoulder. A beautiful window display. Feeling the rush of inspiration, she grinned further. "Hold on. I need to get something."

-

"So, have you gotten Jason anything?" Nina asked twenty minutes later as the two walked home.

"No," Rose said distractedly "Why? You think I should?"

"I don't know," the blonde shrugged "Will he be giving you anything?"

"No. Well, I don't think so." She frowned in thought "I'll be sure to keep some extra cookies for him, or something."

Nina laughed, the slight traces of tension fading away. "He'd be delighted."

"I know _I_ would. Denis makes heavenly cookies."

Throughout the journey home, Rose could not wipe off the smile that sprouted on her face after seeing the display. She had no idea what exactly her friend would like to get – but she was willing to bet her choice was a damn good one.

* * *

"You wanna know what I heard today?"

Rose looked up from her still half-full plate to glance at her younger brother. "If I say no, will you still tell me?"

Denis rolled his eyes. "Yes."

"Then start talking already."

"Rose, don't be rude," their mother scolded her just as the telephone rang in the hallway "Oh! That must be Mrs. Jennings!" and with that, she dashed out to answer it, prepared for a fresh piece of juicy gossip.

"A boy that's sitting with me told me a really cool legend about that castle." Denis continued, slurping his noodles.

"Oh yeah?" Rose gave herself a mental pat in the back for sounding so uninterested when in reality, she really was.

"Uh huh. He said that it's haunted." Denis paused to gulp down the soup "There's this big, black figure with horrible sharp fingers, you know, like Freddy Kruger from the _Nightmare on Elm Street_ series. He wanders around the castle and the whole property and if someone goes up there uninvited, he rips them apart, no questions asked."

"Ooh," Rose breathed out, resting her elbow on the table and her head in her palm "Sounds creepy."

"Yeah, and he also said that his friend's older brother was dared to go and knock on the door, but he didn't do it because of some really strange noises."

"Strange noises…" she muttered.

Denis nodded. "Yep. Like the one Freddy made when his blades screeched against a metal surface. If someone dared me to go up there, I'd say 'no, thank you, I'd rather continue living in one piece'."

"How do you know it's true?"

Denis shrugged "I don't, but I'd rather not find out."

"But what if that scary monster wasn't a scary monster at all?" Rose decided to see what her little brother would say about that "What if he's just, you know… living there peacefully? You did hear that you can't judge a book by its' cover, right?"

The boy lifted his eyebrows skeptically. "You mean he's a good guy, just killing people for fun?"

"No, I mean he's really a good guy. He doesn't kill people at all, he's completely harmless, just… different."

"Different how?" the boy leaned in with wide, curious eyes.

"Mm, well…" Rose furrowed her eyebrows in thought, then smiled "He is a bit of a loner type, but very nice and friendly when you get to know him."

Denis blinked, confused. "A nice version of Freddy Kruger? Ugly, but good?"

Rose laughed at that. "Kind of, yes, except maybe cuter." As soon as she said that, she felt her face heating up. _'Well, Edward __**is**__ cuter than Freddy,'_ she reasoned.

"In that case, I think he's okay." The boy decided, nodding. "I'd like to become his friend so that I could visit him in that huge castle. It must be really cool to live in it."

She grinned "Seriously?"

Her brother nodded excitedly. "My whole class could play hide and seek in it, how awesome would that be?"

"Very awesome, I'm sure," she laughed.

Her grin widened as she stood up, putting the empty plate away. "I would like to meet him, too."

Except she already had.

* * *

An hour later, when her homework for the day was finished and her mother conveniently sent her to go and buy some bread for tomorrow, Rose was on her way to the mansion. She figured she could see Edward for a bit before going grocery shopping; she could always tell her mom she ran into some friends from school and that caused her to be late. Hearing that, the teen had no doubts her mother would be delighted.

Upon seeing her, Edward beamed the way he always did when she came. It never ceased to amaze her, how a simple thing would make him happy like that. Briefly, she wondered just how will he react when she'll give him his Christmas present.

"I can't take too long, my mom expects me back in a few minutes," Rose explained, immediately regretting that as his face fell slightly "I actually came to ask you something."

"What is it?" Edward tilted his head to the side.

"I was wondering… If there is something you'd want for Christmas," she uttered quietly, looking at her feet before finding the strength to look directly at him. She felt nervous for some reason, but then again, she'd never asked anyone outside her family that.

Edward looked surprised. "What would I want?" he repeated.

"Yes, you know… as a Christmas present."

"Oh," he remembered now. The Inventor used to read him a lot of books, different kinds. There was one book about Christmas, its' origin and tradition. The book described briefly what people do to celebrate it, what do they eat, what do they drink, how do they act. He learnt about the Christmas tree and the presents underneath it.

He also remembered his last Christmas gift, the one the Inventor hadn't had time to really give him… His hands.

That's what he wanted above everything else. If he could have normal hands, he could have a normal life. He could have everything that other people have.

Edward looked at Rose. She was no Inventor, she couldn't give him hands. But she could… Maybe…

"I'd like to…" he trailed off, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, then back "I'd like to have a normal Christmas. With… with you."

Rose felt her face flush a hot red color. She stared at him for a few seconds, but when he didn't say anything else, she realized it was her turn.

"Oh, well…" her neck was growing hotter, and so was her face "Um, I… I mean… Yes. Yes, okay." She took a calming breath "Okay then, if that's what you want, that's what you'll get."

It was his turn to stare at her, the tension turning into disbelief and followed closely by possibly the widest smile she'd ever seen anyone wear.

"Really?" he asked, excited "Will you come?"

Changing her mind and refusing was no longer an option, it never was. She smiled, still fighting off the blush "Yes, really. I'll be here and I promise it'll be the best Christmas of your life."

She barely had the time to finish saying this, when his arms wrapped around her in an awkward yet safe hug, his forearms directed upwards, blades away from her body. Rose didn't have the chance to even register what's going on before Edward let go of her, taking a big step back.

"Um, I-I'm sorry," he said meekly "And t-thank you."

"No problem," she breathed out with wide eyes "I'll see you tomorrow. Good night,"

Throughout her journey down, Rose's mind was oddly blank. It was when she actually passed the first house on her way back home did she start thinking, _'What happened?'_ and _'Did it really happened, or is it just my imagination?'_ Because if she was correct, Edward had hugged her. Never in a million years did she expect such an open display of emotions from him! Then again, if it really did happen, it must mean that… That what? _'That I've been promoted to 'Best Friend' now, and he can touch me?'_ she shook her head _'Ridiculous.'_

She scowled at the ground and decided not to think about it anymore. _'I'm probably exaggerating anyway,'_ she thought _'He hugged me, big deal. That's what friend do.'_

Just as she was about to open the door and march into the house, she realized something.

_'Shit,'_ she bit back a groan, turning around _'I forgot to buy the damn bread.'_


	19. Warmth

Drcookchick_, _SeventhSister_, _Cybernetic Mango_, _loopycathair_, _Samantha-san13_, _ren-hatake_, _linalove_, _My-Lover-Gren-Gren_, _Almost Winter_, _Alyssa_ and _Marfuu_ - thank you all very, very much for the motivating reviews!_

_Also, extra special thanks to _Mattiemo_, for showing impatience so openly xD Good to know I could help a little in this boring world, and I'm happy to hear you're staying with me._

_Yet another chapter that begins with a shopping scene. For someone who hates shopping (with the notable exception of books, CDs and manga), I seem to use it a lot…_

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen:**** Warmth**

"How about this? Isn't it lovely?"

Rose rolled her eyes before turning to face her mother. This time, she couldn't suppress a gasp of disgust as she saw what the woman was holding; a close-fitting light green short dress with a flower pattern at the skirt.

"My _God_, mom!" she said in horror "Put _that_ away before someone thinks I'm _considering_ buying it!"

"What's wrong with it?" Mrs. Wheeler looked at the dress she was holding "It's in the color that suits you best and it's just so cute!"

"Please, just… pick another one." The girl said, going back to look through the dresses. The Christmas party at Adam's house was apparently a big thing for all teenagers and the parents were more than happy to help their children look their best at it. Rose didn't mind shopping wit her mother, but sometimes, the clothes she'd tried to make Rose buy were… Not her style, to say the least.

"Can't I just go in pants and a shirt?" the teen asked, becoming irritated. They've already spent two hours and so far, none of the dresses fit her taste.

"That is not an option, dear," her mother said sternly "I've spoken with the mothers and they all say their daughters will be in a dress. You don't want to stand out, do you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Rose grumbled, eyeing a dark red dress that caught her eye before putting it back as soon as she noticed the shiny sequins at the top. She wanted something nice and plain, something that wouldn't make her look ridiculous.

"Oh my, this one sis simply divine!" Mrs. Wheeler took out a long, elegant black dress, low cut and glittering. Rose looked at it and sighed.

"Yes, it is, mom. Only, not for a party for teenagers."

The dress store had also all the important and matched accessories. There were shoes, purses, jewelry, hats, everything. One of the necklaces caught Rose's eye and she came closer.

"What are you looking at?" her mother went up to her and gasped "Oh Lord, it's beautiful!" she touched the thin silver and the softly glittering rose bud before glancing at her daughter "We're _so_ taking it, Rose."

She shrugged, but smiled nonetheless. "It's gorgeous."

"Just like you will be, in that dress," Mrs. Wheeler pointed at a dark blue dress hanging on the hanger. Rose took it and whistled in approval. The dress was knee-length and sleeveless, close-fitting at the top with a flowing skirt. It was plain and simple, with no design or pattern on it, just like she wanted.

"And I already see the perfect shoes, dear," her mother smiled widely, seeing the look on her daughter's face.

After trying everything on and seeing it fitted perfectly, Rose and her mother bought the dress, the shoes and the necklace. They were heading towards the parking lot, when Mrs. Wheeler stopped suddenly.

"Isn't that Jason?" she asked, making Rose turn in that direction. Surely, there was Jason, laughing and putting his arm around a girls' shoulders. The top of her head came up only to his shoulders and, since Rose had only the view of their backs, she could see the girl's black hair.

"Just what is he doing?" her mother sounded mad.

Rose shrugged, continuing the walk towards the car "I don't know."

"Aren't you moved at least a bit by this?"

"By what?" the teen blinked, surprised.

"Well, first he's flirting with you, then he's out with another girl? What does that mean?"

"He never flirted with me, mom," Rose rolled her eyes, opening the passenger's seat door "We're friends. I don't care what he's doing with other girls."

Mrs. Wheeler entered the car and looked at her seriously "And you aren't sad, at all?"

"At all." Rose confirmed firmly.

Her mother finally dropped the topic and started the engine.

* * *

_'Those everyday trips up and down the hill sure help my condition,'_ Rose thought as she took a deep breath instead of panting heavily and adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder. She pushed the metal gate open and smiled upon hearing the familiar sound of scissors snipping. She circled the giant green hand and headed towards the garden.

Upon seeing Edward's back as he snipped away, her grin widened. Not wanting to startle him by suddenly announcing her presence, she leaned against the castle wall, arms crossed, simply watching him as he gave into his passion. Leaves and small branches were flying all around him as the big, shapeless shrub began to change. Within the next few silent minutes, the shrub turned into a tree. The trunk was short and thin, while the crown wide and unnaturally round, like the trees from pictures from fairy tales books. It was beautiful.

Edward stepped back to eye his creation. Rose chose that moment to say something.

She whistled. "Niiice."

Edward tensed, but then recognized the voice and turned, a shy smile on his lips. "Thank you."

Rose pushed herself off the wall and walked up closer to him. She opened her mouth to say something else, when a gasp escaped her lips. "My God, Edward! What happened?"

Edward blinked, totally oblivious to the small, shallow cut on his right cheek or the thin line of blood that was slowly pouring out of it. She made a move to touch it, but quickly snatched her hand back.

The boy shifted. "It was an accident." He said quietly "I was cutting the shrub and…"

"Sit down, I have to look at it up close." Rose crouched down, setting her bag on the ground and began to dig in it in search of her bottled water and some tissue papers. She was no doctor, but she knew how to deal with minor cuts. She also knew what an infection looked like, but she hoped that didn't happen.

Edward sat down awkwardly and stared at the girl as she finally pulled the things she needed out of her bag. She took one tissue paper and rinsed it with some water, then began to carefully rub it against his face, first getting the blood cleaned out. "It may sting a little," she muttered as she brought another wet tissue to the cut. Edward flinched, but only a little. Rose breathed out, relieved to see that the cut didn't get infected. She cleaned all the blood off and took a fresh tissue to hold it against the injury, making sure it's not bleeding anymore. "Almost done," She said softly and took her eyes from the wound, only to meet Edward's pitch black ones.

Just then did she realize how close they were. He was sitting on the ground with his legs stretched out before him and she was kneeling at his side, leaning forward to get a close look at his cut. Their faces were merely inches apart, and her free hand was still resting on his shoulder. If she tilted her head to the side just a little…

Rose bolted, loosing her balance and falling down on her butt. She desperately tried to regain the right temperature of her face as she scrambled back to her original position, though making sure to keep an extra few inches of space between them.

"It-it stopped bleeding," she announced, glad her voice didn't squeak at least, though it did sound slightly shaken. "B-but I'm afraid it might leave another… scar…"

Edward blinked, not taking his eyes off her. "Are you alright?" he asked, noticing her reddened face and nervousness.

She smiled, but avoided his gaze. "Yes, sorry, I… I just… tripped…" that was the lamest thing ever, but she didn't care. She cleared her throat and looked at the cut. "It looks okay now, as okay as a poorly treated cut can look I mean, but I think you'll live." Turned away from him as she began to dig in her bag again. The object she wanted to find was already in her hand, but she pretended it wasn't. She needed a few seconds to get rid of that horrible flush off her cheeks.

Finally, she pulled back and faced Edward with a smile, as if nothing had happened. He was still sitting on the ground, staring at her curiously.

"Thank you." He said quietly and sincerely.

"You're welcome," she replied, trying to sound polite and cheerful, as if she'd done it a million times before. Then, she showed him the thing she was holding "Now, can you please stand up? I have to do something,"

Edward complied a bit more gracefully and eyes the small, slim, rectangular silver object. "What is this?"

"It's a camera," she uttered, pressing the button "Don't worry, it's nothing you should be afraid of,"

'What does it do?" he asked again, staring at it with curiosity, confusion and wonder.

"I could tell you," Rose grinned "But it's a secret. You'll have to be patient and wait."

"Secret?"

"Well, more like a, a surprise. Sorry, I can't say more, but I'm sure you'll love it. Now…" she hesitated a bit before coming up to him to stand at his side, slightly behind. She outstretched her arm, bringing the camera as far as she could. "Smile."

Edward threw her a glance before looking at the camera.

"Come on, Edward," she nudged him delicately "Smile if you're happy."

He _was_ happy. His lips twitched and soon, a small albeit genuine smile appeared on his face. Rose grinned and pressed the button.

"Ah!" Edward cried out as a bright white flash of light hit his eyes. He stumbled back, bumping into Rose on his way.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she called out, steadying him. "I should have warned you, I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

"Ye-yes," he muttered, rubbing his eyes with his forearm to get rid of the dots dancing in his vision.

"I'm so sorry," Rose repeated, putting the camera back into the bag. She chuckled "I hope you didn't close your eyes, because we'd have to do it all over again."

"No, I don't think I did," he kept rubbing his eyes.

"Blink a few times, the dots should disappear soon enough," she instructed and he lowered his arm to do as he was told.

Rose waited to make sure she didn't cause permanent or temporary blindness and that his eyes are alright before packing the water and tissues before getting up to leave.

Before she took off, Rose decided to take one last look at his wound.

"I'll bring some band aids with me tomorrow, " she said as she examined the cut. It wasn't bleeding and was slowly starting to close already. Not really thinking about it, Rose raised her hand and touched the skin around the cut tenderly.

She took her hand away as soon as her skin made contact with his, as if she got burnt.

"I'll be going now," she said quickly and bid her friend a hasty goodbye before walking away in a hurry.

Edward stared at her retreating figure in a daze, wondering why was he feeling so warm all of a sudden.

* * *

_**A**__: I've just realized this story's exactly __one year old__ today. Huh._


	20. Realization

_Oh God, again, so many reviews! It will never cease to amaze me! Thank you all so much, _

SeventhSister_, _Haeronwen_, _TornPrince'sSmile_, _ren-hatake_, _mattiemo_ (twice again! :D), _KitKat-Pyrophobia_, _WolfxAngel_, _Samantha-san13_, _kuraikami_, _XxPanda-BabiixX_, _Jen_, _CremeLover_, _The Non-Existing Person_ (I LOVE long reviews :D) and _HarlequinAngel27_! _

_No Edward in this one, for which I apologize, but it's very important nonetheless; hence the title chapter. Finally, after twenty chapters, __something__'s happening! :D_

* * *

** Chapter Twenty: Realization**

He was sitting on the ground with his legs stretched out before him and she was kneeling at his side, her leg brushing against his slightly. She leaned closer to examine the wound on his right cheek, then slowly brought her eyes to look straight into his. She lifted her right hand and traced the fresh scar with the tip of her fingers delicately, her other hand still resting on his shoulder. Their faces were inches apart. Her fingers ran up and down the small scar, one of the many on his face. Then, her hand slid to the back of his neck, curling around his messy black hair. She tilted her head to the side just a little and…

Rose groaned as her body collided with the floor on the side of her bed with a loud **thud**. She managed to untangle herself from the sheets and sat down on her bed, rubbing her face. She could feel her face growing hot beneath her fingers. _'What kind of a twisted dream was _that_?!'_ she shook her head and ran her hands through her tousled hair. That was just plain **wrong**. She wasn't supposed to be dreaming about her friend, for God's sake! Especially dreaming about _kissing_ said friend!

After a not-so-hot shower to calm herself down, Rose got dressed, combed her hair and brushed her teeth before descending downstairs for breakfast. Luckily, her father was already at work, and mother was too busy being on the phone and gathering fresh pieces of gossip to pay attention to her absent-minded daughter.

School passed rather quickly and Rose did her best not to think about either her dream or the awkward moment between her and Edward that had taken place the day before. She tried to convince herself that it was all her hormones' fault and that it has nothing to do with her friend. After all, he _is_ male and she _is_ close to him, so of course she may feel a _tiny little bit_ attracted to him. As a teenager, it was obvious that awful stage will pass with time. All that was left to do was not to worry and act normal.

Feeling convinced, Rose did not think about it any further.

After school, she took the usual detour and was heading towards the hill. However, the thoughts from earlier struck her again all of a sudden and she stopped dead in her tracks, frowning. What had happened the day before… And the dream… Could it be that it was not the age, that Rose was…

_'Edward is a friend.'_ She thought firmly, nodding to herself _'I like him, naturally. And that dream was nothing but the fault of my hormones. End of story.'_

So then, why did she keep thinking back?

And… why, deep down, did she regret falling off the bed before the finale…?

A horribly loud sound of a car horn made Rose nearly jump out of her skin in fright. She whirled around and got blinded by the headlights as the car screeched to a stop. The driver honked again and the girl snapped out of her daze, jumping back. The car drove passed her and Rose realized she had stopped right in the middle of the street.

Her heart still beating rapidly and her face growing hot, Rose turned and almost ran back home.

* * *

"Oh my God, Rose honey!" her mother greeted her frantically "I'm so glad you didn't do it!"

"Didn't do-" Rose was engulfed in a bone-crushing hug "…what?"

"Mrs. Bryant just called me!" the woman said, releasing her daughter "She said that Mr. Jennings told his wife that he saw you standing on the road unmoving and he almost ran you over! As if… As if you wanted to… Oh, darling, did you… Are you upset by something?"

"What? No!" Rose rolled her eyes "It was an accident, I got lost in thoughts and didn't notice-"

"It's about Jason, isn't it?" Mrs. Wheeler seemed not to hear "You're still upset about that girl he was with at the mall."

"No!" the teen gasped in disbelief "Mom, I wasn't paying attention. That's all."

"Are you sure? You don't want to talk about it?"

"There is nothing to talk about, honestly," Rose rubbed her temple "It's not about Jason, it's not about anyone else." Not exactly true, but her mother didn't need to know that "I was just tired and didn't notice the car."

"I'm so glad," her mother "I thought… That boy broke your heart and…"

"_Mom_," Rose hissed, seriously getting annoyed "No one broke my heart. I'm tired and I'm going to take a nap."

_'Christ, where the HELL did THAT come from?!'_ she mused _'Suicide? Because of Jason?! I swear, she's beginning to fit in __perfectly__, getting more and more stupid.'_

"Sister! You're alive!"

Rose cringed. "Have mercy," she muttered.

Trevor grinned "I heard you wanted to kill yourself because of Carter. That's _so_ romantic,"

"I did _not_-" she tried, but gave up as she saw him bursting into laughter. "Whatever." She was about to continue her walk to her room, when an idea suddenly struck. She turned around to see her brother still in the doorway, staring at her with a smirk.

"Hey, Trev…" she began carefully "I actually… need to ask you something."

He raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "What is it?"

"Did you… I mean," Rose cleared her throat, cursing the idea yet knowing it's to late to retreat "My friend's got a problem."

"If it's Carter, I'm not interested," he said boldly.

"No, no, it's a girl from my class, my chemistry partner. Her name is… well, it's not important. Anyway," Rose blushed lightly as her brother's expression grew curious and amused _'Sorry, Nina.'_ "She asked me for advice, because she thinks she may be, um… she may have a, a _crush_ on her friend and she doesn't know what to do with it," she said the last sentence very fast. Before taking a breath "Do you think it'll pass or maybe… Probably, it's… It may be something… Solid?"

Trevor stared at his sister for a while before crossing his arms and leaning against the wall with a thoughtful expression. "I'm pretty sure you're not crushing on Carter," he said somewhat to himself "But you also don't have any other friend that are male at school. It may be one of Carter's friends, but then again –"

"Trev!" Rose interrupted "I told you it's not about me!"

"Okay, let's assume _that_ then," he agreed.

"Just answer the damn question already," she growled "Were you ever in a similar situation?"

"I'd never tell you that, but if I was and the friend I would be crushing on was hot then I'd go for it."

"B-but what if you didn't want to ruin the friendship?"

"If I'm crushing on her, that means I like her _more_ than a friend. So I'd do anything not to 'ruin the friendship'-" he air quoted the last three words "-_and_ be with her in a relationship."

"Oh." Well, it wasn't very helpful, since her situation wasn't a typical one, but still, Rose was glad she asked. "Well, thanks. I'll… I'll tell my friend that."

"I'm sure you will," her brother grinned cheekily again "Wish her luck."

"I will." Ignoring the color raising to her cheeks, Rose finally headed to her room.

Rose paid no attention to her homework and threw herself straight on the bed, burying her face into the pillow.

_'I am screwed.'_

* * *

_**A**__: I must apologize for the slow updates and the shortness of this chapter. I will do everything to get the next one out at the end of this month, possibly around the 24th. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, you're fantastic!_


	21. One Sided Confrontation

TooMuchAtOnce_, _WanderingChild96_, _The Non-Existing Person_, _SeventhSister_, _loopycathair_, _CremeLover_, _My-Lover-Gren-Gren_ (times two! Wow), _Raine44354_, _iCraft_, _Kentcharm_, _Almost Winter_, _unimportant

_- I honestly can't thank you guys enough. You are the fuel of this story and I feel bad every time I have to put writing aside to do 'more important' stuff. Well, enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One: ****One-Sided Confrontation**

_'I am _**so**_ screwed…'_

Rose sighed, standing before the iron gates of the mansion. Suddenly, going to that manse and seeing _that_ person was something she did not want to do. Just as she thought that, she felt worse. _'Edward's got nothing to do with all that!'_ she argued with herself _'It's my fault I'm… that I'm…'_

She pushed the gates so forcefully they hit the hard, rocky fence and creaked, as if they were about to break.

Rose marched straight to the wooden door and stopped there, a determined look on her face. Her narrowed eyes glared at the door as she straightened down her shirt and checked if her ponytail has been damaged. Feeling ready, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. She did not feel as calm as she would want, but she had to manage. Maybe seeing Edward would put her mind at ease. _'Like it always does.'_ The girl groaned, blushing. _'No!'_ she shook her head and clenched her hand around the doorknob.

_'Ready, set, __**go**__!'_

"Rose?"

"Aaah!" Rose jerked forward, her forehead banging against the wooden surface painfully.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Edward came up from behind, stopping a few feet behind the girl, his blades snipping against one another in an ashamed manner.

"Ouch," Rose hissed, rubbing the sore spot "This is gonna leave a bruise…" then she blinked, realizing Edward was standing directly behind her. She turned, her grimace replaced by a wide smile "Edward!" she greeted in a high-pitched voice "I… You… I didn't know you're… Ah, you surprised me!"

"Surprised?" he asked "Is that… good or bad?"

"Well…" Rose touched her forehead again before lowering her hand "No! No, I like surprises!" _'The truth is, you scared the shit out of me, but not like I'd tell you that…'_ "I didn't know you were in the garden, that's all."

"But… You hurt yourself…" he pointed at her forehead, where a light purple bruise was beginning to form. "Because of me."

"What? No!" she hated her voice right at that moment; it wasn't so high-pitched normally, so why was it so annoying now?! "I did that to myself, because I didn't pay attention. And it doesn't hurt," she reassured.

Edward said nothing; instead, he just stood there, staring at the small bruise on her forehead with a thoughtful expression on his scarred face. After a few seconds of complete silence, he suddenly took a step in her direction, then another.

"E-Edward? What's the m-matter?" Rose grew nervous as he approached her without a word, his eyes glued to her forehead. The lack of expression, save for the slightly narrowed brows, made Rose step back. She froze as her back hit the door.

He did not reply, just walked over to her, coming to a stop when he was too close for her comfort. He reached out, his bladed hand looming over her face.

Rose's eyes widened. _'This is another dream,'_ she thought, choosing to squeeze her eyes shut. _'A dream, a dream, a dr-'_

Coolness so soothing and gentle made her crack one eye open. Edward was still standing right in front of her, his face as blank as before. One of the blade's side was touching her wound, making the pain less intensive. Rose opened her eyes fully. She remembered her mother doing the exact same thing whenever Rose bumped her head and had gotten a bruise. She'd take a cold knife and press it's side gently to the bruise. Just like Edward was doing.

"Wha…"

"Is it better?" he asked, his gaze sliding from her forehead to meet her eyes. He spoke with some uncertainty and confusion "Am I doing it right?"

"I…" Rose couldn't gather words to form a simple sentence. She gulped loudly and lowered her gaze. "Yes. Thank you…" her face was already turning red. She looked at him again "How did you know what to do?"

Edward blinked, furrowing his eyebrows in focus before his expression turned confused. "I don't know. I can't remember."

"Well, thank you." She smiled. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Edward sent her a shy yet happy smile. Rose shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her back pressing against the door. She felt like an idiot. _'He wanted to return the favor from the other day, to take care of my wound and what do I do? Act like he wants to chop me up into pieces.'_

Or…

Rose bit on her lower lip hard to stop that particular train of thought. She couldn't lie to herself; she wasn't scared he'd hurt her. She was nervous, because he approached her with such a blank face, as if… As if…

She had to do something to push that image from her dream away.

"Okay, I think I'm all good now," she squeaked out, turning her head away and shivering as the cold side of his blade trailed the skin on her forehead as she moved. "Thanks again," she ducked and managed to get away from her spot between the confused Edward and the hard door.

Heart hammering in her chest, the girl headed towards the back. She realized she's not being followed. Rose stopped and turned her head to look at Edward, who never left the spot.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

Edward stared at her for a while before he shook his head slowly. "No… But, are you alright?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, why?"

"Your face is… all red."

The color deepened visibly and Rose turned her head away quickly. "Oh, it's nothing, don't worry. Hey, let's go, um, there!" she pointed ahead and continued walking. Edward, still very confused and worried - he found he couldn't help it - followed after a few seconds.

Rose sat down on the grass, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. _'What the hell am I doing?' _she asked herself, sighing. _'I'm acting like an idiot, making him worry…'_ She hated making Edward worry - he was so easy to do so. Being a simple, child-like man, he could not comprehend the complex emotions she was feeling. _'That means I have to stop feeling them,'_ she nodded to herself _'Yes. I have to stop this nonsense.'_

Edward joined Rose to see her burying her head in her arms. He stopped immediately. Her face was still a bit pink, and she looked… sad.

Rose raised her head and noticed him standing there. Her gloomy expression melted away in a warm smile. "Come and sit," she patted the grass next to her. Edward complied.

The two sat in silence for a while. Edward kept glancing at the girl to see if her dim expression returned, but instead, she seemed to be lost in thoughts. She was looking ahead, but her eyes were clouded over; her eyebrows narrowed and the corner of her lips cast downward ever so slightly.

Edward had a feeling that if he'd ask directly, she would brush it off and give him a smile that does not last as long as he'd wished. So, he asked another question, the one that was on his mind the longest.

"Why didn't you come yesterday?"

His quiet voice snapped Rose out of her state and made her look straight at him. "I… I couldn't. I'm sorry." A wave of regret washed over "I should have… But I really couldn't."

"I was worried."

Her eyes widened.

"Worried you would not come."

"Edward, I told you -"

"I know." He interrupted quietly. "I know. You're the one who always comes back."

All of a sudden, Rose found it difficult to swallow. She managed to after the third try, cleared her throat and opened her mouth to speak. "Ye…" she had to clear her throat again "Yes, I will always come back." A semi-firm smile appeared on her face "Don't you ever doubt that."

The silence that came next was much more comfortable than the first one. Rose managed to relax and started a mostly one-sided conversation, where she did all the talking and Edward was responsible for the listening part. She told him about all the funny situations from school, her quarreling with her brothers, the jokes she'd exchanged with Nina, everything she knew that would make him smile. The sun had just begun to set when she ran out of topics. She looked over at her friend and frowned.

"Does it hurt?" she asked, staring at his scars, at one of them in particular. The one she cleaned two days ago. "The scar. Does it hurt?" she repeated seeing his confused expression.

"No," Edward said simply.

"I should have brought some cream or something…"

"No, no cream!" the scissor-handed boy interrupted immediately, thinking back to the strange, purple thing Peg had smeared all over his face such a long time ago.

Rose laughed at his expression. "Okay then, no cream it is." she stopped laughing soon, but the grin staid "As long as it doesn't hurt, I guess…"

The grin got smaller and smaller until it vanished completely. Rose couldn't tear her eyes away from all the scars. She wasn't sure if Edward could feel pain, since he was not a regular human being after all. If he could, then each and every of those scars had to hurt very much. Unconsciously, she raised her hand.

"Why do you keep your hair like this?"

Rose snapped out of it and lowered her hand, gripping the material of her pants. "Like what? The ponytail?"

Edward nodded, staring at her tied up hair with curiosity. He had seen Rose with her hair down only once, and he liked it better than the thing she called a 'ponytail'.

"I don't know. Maybe because it's more comfortable," the girl shrugged "But I guess I can -" she reached to the band that held her hair together and wanted to yank it out, when a pair of scissors beat her to it. After one short snip the band was cut. The scissors ran through her now free hair carefully and fixed it slightly, making it cascade past her shoulders.

"Ah," she blinked, ripping her eyes away from Edwards' shyly "Thanks." She needed a distraction, fast. Looking up, she spotted a particular large cloud and pointed at it "Hey, look at that! Does it remind you of something?"

Edward followed her finger and squinted his eyes at the fluffy cloud. "Um…" he thought about it for a while "No." he admitted sadly.

"Oh? Well, you wanna know what I see?" he looked at her curiously and nodded "I see… I see a horse."

"A horse?"

"Yeah! That cloud kind of looks like the shape of a throttling horse, right there! Look, there's the head, and neck…"

The game continued like that for the rest of her stay. She'd point at a certain cloud and explain the shape. Edward would watch on in fascination at first, but as time went by, he started pointing at the sky himself. Sometimes he pointed and couldn't name the shape, and Rose would laugh at his expression.

Everything was just like it should be. They were friends again.


	22. If

Kentcharm_, _ren-hatake_, _Raine44354,TooMuchAtOnce_, _Haeronwen_, _Luncia_, _WanderingChild96_, _SeventhSister_, _The Non-Existing Person_, _linalove_, _Almost Winter_, _My-Lover-Gren-Gren_, _CremeLover_, _mattiemo_, _Cybernetic Mango_, _Batman-Luver_, _GeologyRocks_, _JainaZekk621_ and _Jen_._

_Aren't you people the best? YES! Yes, you are. Thank you so much!_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Two:**** If**

"Jason?"

The boy turned away from the two girls he was talking to and his smile widened as he saw Rose standing behind him.

"Hi, Rose," he greeted cheerily "What's up?"

"Actually, I was looking for your party-hosting friend Adam," she said boldly "But I guess I can ask you as well."

"Oh?" he grinned cheekily "What is it?"

Rose ignored the pointed glares of the two girls and carried on. "I was wondering…If I could bring someone along to the party."

His eyebrow rode up. "Someone? Like, a _partner_?"

The temptation was too great. Rose smirked "Yeah, something like that." she shrugged nonchalantly "So, can I?"

"You know what they say, the more, the merrier," Jason uttered "Maybe I'll finally get to meet your secret boyfriend."

"Don't count on it!" she finally returned his grin and turned to walk away after a short wave "Thanks! See ya!"

-

"I still can't believe you asked _me_, of all people." Nina said as she sad down at the cafeteria table with a hot drink in her hand.

Rose glanced at her with raised eyebrows. "Why? You want to go, but didn't get invited, right?"

"Yeah, but…" the blonde sighed "I still can't understand why you've chosen me and not some guy to go to that party with you."

Rose smiled "Well, maybe because you're my friend. Or maybe because there's no guy I'd like to go with," _'Or maybe because the guy wouldn't like to go with me, because he's stuck at the mansion, believed to be a ghost'_ "Or maybe a bit of both."

Nina stared at her before bursting into laughter. "You're strange. But that's why I hang out with you, I guess." She turned solemn "You know, there's this rumor going on about how you asked Jason Carter out."

"I asked… _What_?!"

"Uh huh. Some girls told their friends that, while they were talking to him, you came up and asked him out. Quite boldly, I might add."

"I did not!"

"I thought so," Nina sighed. "God, it's so annoying. Don't worry," she added, seeing Rose's shocked and outraged expression "It'll last for a few days, everyone will forget about it after the Christmas break."

"I hate this town," Rose uttered, burying her face in her hands.

"You'll get used to it," Nina shrugged "With time, you'll laugh at it." then, she leaned in with a sly grin on her face "So…" she began.

"So what?" Rose snapped, thrown off by the rumor.

"Is there _really_ no guy you'd like to ask, or are you too shy?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Rose scoffed, feeling the blush rising to her cheeks steadily "Beside Jason, I don't know any boys around here!"

"Oh, really."

"Really."

"I wasn't aware you have to know someone in order to ask them out, I thought you ask them out to get to know about them." Nina shrugged "I guess I'm old-fashioned. Or you are."

"If you don't want to go…" Rose began.

The blonde laughed "Okay, okay, chill. I'll stop talking nonsense."

The rest of the day went by peacefully, though Rose could not help but imagine how would it looked like if she'd show up at Adam's doorstep in her pretty dress and Edward by her side. With her head resting in her palm, she let out a soft sigh, her eyes glued to the blackboard yet not really seeing it. _'If Edward was normal…' _she blinked, her silhouette going rigid _'No. Do not think like that. Do __**not**__ think like __**that**__.'_

She could not wait for the bell to ring.

* * *

"… and there was another one, which looked like a giant swan!" Edward narrated "Its' wings were out and it looked like it was flying! It took me a few hours to complete, but I made it! I wish you could see it," he added a bit quietly.

Rose smiled excitedly "Hey, it's almost winter! When the snow falls, you'll be able to do more ice sculptures, and I definitely want to see them all!"

Edward beamed at her in return. The two continued to chat in a manner they've always done, with only one small, but noticeable exception - Edward began to speak up more often, instead of just listening and nodding to everything Rose said. The fact did not go by unnoticed by the girl and made her feel even more joyful than before. He had opened up to her.

He looked positively adorable whenever he was talking, making her grin like an idiot as she stared at him. She couldn't help but notice, however, that whenever he forgot himself and twitched his sharp fingers, he'd pause slightly and look down, ashamed. Rose knew that having scissors for hands was nothing fun, but then again, it was not his fault. _'That maker of his or whatever should give him hands in the very beginning,'_ she mused, trying to surpass an angry frown _'Being the genius that he was, he should be able to predict the consequences of creating a scissor-handed man.'_

If he had, Edward would have a normal life. He would be truly happy.

But he hadn't. He had left his creation in the dark mansion, lost and lonely.

Another surprising thought struck Rose, making her blink. _'What if I __**didn't**__ come here in the first place?'_ She immediately shook the thought off. She did come, that was all that mattered.

"Is everything alright?"

She summoned a cheery smile and focused. "Of course! I just, um, I got a little lost in thought, sorry."

"What were you thinking about?" he looked genuinely curious.

"I…" Rose racked her brain for an answer "It's been a long day, that's all." Seeing Edward's face fall, she immediately corrected herself "I was just thinking how relaxing it is here. I love coming here after a hard day, you know, it's so calm and, and well… It feels good." By the time she finished, her cheeks turned pink, both because of her ridiculous stuttering and Edward's intense gaze.

"I like it too." He said suddenly, a shy smile appearing on his face.

"Huh? This place?"

"I like it." he repeated "But I like it more when you're around."

Pink turned to crimson as Rose stared at him, speechless. Her first reaction was to get up and get the hell away from there before she'd do something stupid. Her second reaction was to hug him for being so… _sweet_. She chose to settle on the third reaction, which was smiling shyly and looking down.

"Thanks."

With him acting like that, how exactly was she supposed to act like a friend only?

_'Think of it as a training of willpower.'_ She had to turn away from him so he wouldn't see her rolling her eyes at her stupid self.

-

"Oh, Rose! Just in time!" her mother called out as the girl closed the door behind her. "Nina's on the phone!"

She walked up to her mother and took the phone from her, wondering what does her blonde friend want at tat hour. "Yes?"

"You will not believe it," the voice on the other side was cheerful and giddy and for one second, Rose could not recognize it as Nina's "I've found the most gorgeous skirt in my closet, and after another round of searching, this beautiful shirt fell into my hands! I never would've guessed such gorgeous clothes are hiding in my room!"

Rose laughed "I'm glad you're so excited."

"If you discovered such treasure, you'd be too."

"Well, I'm really happy we don't have to go shopping, I don't think I'd survive that." another cheery chuckle escaped her lips.

"What happened?"

"Huh?"

"Your voice…" Nina paused briefly "Rose, what wee you doing before I called?"

"Uh," Rose blinked "I was… I went out for a bit, had to get a few things from the store… Just came back. Why?"

"The store?" the girl on the other side snorted "It must've been pretty exciting, then."

"What? Why?" Rose's heart picked up speed involuntarily.

"You sound… happy."

After a second of stunned silence, it was Rose's turn to let out a grunt. "Oh, please. You're the one who called just to tell me you've found some clothes in your closet. That had to be way more exciting than anything."

"_'Some clothes'_?" the distraction worked and Rose could release the breath she was holding "They aren't _any_ clothes! Just wait till you see me!"

"Yeah, yeah, I can't wait," she teased, grinning.

Nina had to hang up a short while later, so Rose grabbed something to eat from the kitchen before going up to her room, not speaking to anyone on her way.

Nina's remark still rang in her head as she closed the door and collapsed on the bed. _"You sound… happy."_ No wonder, since she'd spend a lot of time with Edward and it was just as fun as always. She really couldn't explain it, but merely talking to him and hearing him talk made her feel content, calm and undisturbed. Rose believed that she had put the 'extra emotions' aside in order to not feel uncomfortable around him. Even though he still managed to leave her speechless and blushing, without knowing that.

But, for the sake of their friendship, she was wiling to fight it.

_'If Edward was normal, I wouldn't.' _that thought passed too fast for her to stop it. She sighed _'But he's not. Building the relationship we have now had cost so much time and effort, and… I'm not sure he'd handle anything more than that.'_

Would **she** handle it? She didn't know.

* * *

_**A**__: Oh, no. Another filler-like chapter. But the next one should be better, so stay tuned!_


	23. Fever

SeventhSister_,_ Raine44354_, _WanderingChild96_, _Kentcharm_, _ren-hatake_, _Batman-Luver_, _TooMuchAtOnce_,_ linalove_, _JainaZekk621_, _Almost Winter_ (ha! How do you feel being in my story, well, sort of? xD), _Samantha-san13_ (twice!), _VampireAngel13_ (twice again!), _LadyAmazon_, _AliceAddams13_, _YumKiwiDelicious_._

_THANK YOU!_

_Forgive me for not replying directly, but I'm having some problems with the site. However, I'm sure you all know how grateful I am for your constant support! I hope you will stick around to the very end which is, by the way, dangerously near. Two chapters left? Three? Who knows? Not me, apparently._

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Fever**

Rose regretted opening her eyes immediately after she'd done so. A splitting headache hit her like a tidal wave and her body felt very overheated. She gripped the sheets and grit her teeth. It took her some time to make her brain function properly, and some more time to recognize the unpleasant feeling.

She was sick.

Her mother came into her room to wake her up, but began to fuss over Rose as soon as she saw the condition her daughter was in. It was decided that Rose would not go to school, Mrs. Wheeler should stay with her but really, really couldn't, and that the teenager was to stay in bed no matter what and that she would have some soup and tea ready in no time, and all of that was decided in less than 20 seconds by Mrs. Wheeler's voice which sounded a bit higher than normal. Rose suffered through the ordeal quite bravely, despite the headache, fever and pure annoyance. She wished everyone would go already, so that the house would be all hers, empty… and _quiet_.

Soon, everyone left for work or school, leaving Rose to rest properly. She'd dozed off a couple times, but had trouble with finding a comfortable position. After about an hour of half-sleeping, tossing and turning, she decided to get up to get rid of the ache. She made sure to dress extra warm and wandered around the empty house, looking for something to do. She considered sneaking into Trevor's room and try to find some blackmail material, but eventually decided against that. She collapsed on the couch in the living room, staring at the ceiling blankly.

It's been 3 days since she last saw Edward. She'd warned him she would be busy with the end of semester at school and whatnot, and promised to come by as soon as possible.

Outside was cold, but she had about ten layers of clothes on, and if she had to, she'd put ten more.

_'But I'm sick! I can't get out there like that!'_ Rose's rational side argued. _'I'll make it worse!'_

But it's been three days.

_'But I'm __sick__!'_

But it was the best time to do it. With parents and siblings gone until after 4 pm or so, she had more than plenty of time to visit Edward.

_'But I am __**SICK**__!'_

Rose got up from the couch and waked towards the closet to grab her warmest coat. After a brief stop by the bathroom and kitchen, she was ready to go.

_'I don't know what the hell I'm doing.'

* * *

_

Edward had just finished his little tour around the garden and climbed up the stairs to his room. The hole in the roof caused the room to fill with bitter cold air. Edward could feel it, but it wasn't as unpleasant as it was for regular humans. He felt the cold, but it didn't bother him all that much. Still, he chose to sit in his favorite dark corner and put his arms around his knees. There was nothing left for him to do around, so he waited. He had been waiting for 3 days.

Edward remembered Rose saying she would be very busy and that she might not come to visit him as often as usual. He understood. He said he would be patient and that he would be waiting. Waiting made him sad, but he promised, so he would do just that.

His eyes fell upon the unused fireplace. Upon the pictures of fingered hands, not blades, like his. Hands that could hold something, or someone. Hands that wouldn't hurt, someone or himself.

He looked down at his metal blades, wishing he'd look at real fingers.

Thanks to Rose and her visiting pattern, Edward knew which day of the week it was. He knew that there are five days of school and two days of weekend. He learnt that during those five days Rose would come much later, after she was finished with school. Edward counted the days and liked doing it; it gave him something to occupy his mind with. After brief thinking, he nodded to himself, smiling a little. It was Thursday. A school day for Rose. He still had a lot of time to kill before she would arrive. _If_ she would arrive.

Curled up in his corner, Edward rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes. He did not need sleep to function, but it was a possibility and, as he had learnt throughout decades, it was the best way to make time go by faster.

Three minutes later he was woken up abruptly by a noise coming from downstairs. Someone bargained into the mansion, quite violently from the sound of it, and was walking around the hall. Edward stiffened. He pushed the hope aside, because he knew that could not be Rose. It was far too early. Or maybe he was mistaken? Maybe he counted wrong. Maybe it was Rose.

But if not? Someone was downstairs, already started going up. Heavy, frantic footsteps. The scissor-handed man curled up even further. He shut his eyes and waited, wishing to become invisible, to fade into the shadow, to be left alone, to have Rose there with him, to…

"Ed-Edward?"

It felt as if time stilled. Slowly, he lifted his head and opened his eyes. Very slowly.

Yes, she was there, she was standing there, out of breath, flushed and somewhat ruffled, but she was there, he wished and she came, he didn't care why, all that mattered what she was there with him, just like he wished.

"Rose," he whisper, with happiness so overwhelming he could barely talk. He watched her, relaxing slowly, as a small smile appeared on her face. She took a step towards him, but then swaggered and fell to her knees. The small backpack fell to the floor with a soft thud.

"Rose!"

A sudden vision occurred in his head; the Inventor, standing in front of him with a pair of elegant hands, ready to give them to Edward, when he collapsed without a warning and never got up. Much like Rose at that moment. It made everything within him freeze in horror.

"**ROSE**!"

Edward scrambled up immediately and rushed to her side. He raised his arm to put his hand on her shoulder when he realized that would not be the best idea. So he put his scissors down and watched with batted breath as Rose gasped and panted.

"Are you okay? What happened?" he could not hold these questions longer. The slight blush was long gone from her face, replaced by a white color that frightened him.

"I'm, I'm fine," Rose managed to pant out "Just a little… Give me a minute…"

He would give her anything to make her feel better, so if a minute she wanted, a minute she would get. Edward kneeled beside her, his blades almost tingling to do something, to offer a comforting gesture, but he refrained and waited. Seconds ticked by and Rose was able to catch her breath and straighten up.

"Edward, I'm so sorry I haven't been around," she began, looking at him sincerely. She wanted to add something more, but got cut off.

"I promised to wait. It's okay. You're here now."

She nodded weakly and attempted to stand up. Edward stood up and, once again out of impulse, offered her his scissored hand. Ashamed, he was about to pull back, when her own hand grabbed his forearm.

For the second time Edward found himself out of breath. Seeing her slender hand clutching his wrist made him freeze as an odd sensation spread through his leather-clad body. She grabbed the backpack and gently lead him to the corner he had occupied mere minutes before. She sat down, dragging him down with her, never taking her hand off him.

"I've got some hot chocolate, if you're interested?" Rose grinned and, without waiting for his answer, turned to search for something in the backpack. She had let go of him in the process, and Edward nearly shivered because of the sudden cold he had felt. She pulled out a long silver thing she'd later called as a 'thermos flask'. She opened it and poured some of the dark liquid into the cap.

Rose handed it to Edward first. "It's still hot, but not tongue-burning," she said "Want some?"

Intoxicated by the smell, Edward could only nod. Rose's smile widened as she set the cup to his lips and tipped slightly, watching him closely. His face lit up as the silky liquid poured into his mouth and flooded his tongue. It was like the delicious chocolate cake he had eaten once upon a time, only in a different form. As the cup was emptied, Rose poured some more and drank it herself, trying to warm up.

"How are you feeling?" Edward asked suddenly.

"Not too good today," Rose admitted, shrugging "It's nothing serious, but I'm feeling weak and sleepy all the time, and my head hurts." She paused, wanting to change the topic to a lighter one. She turned to Edward with her mouth open, when his serious, slightly panicked expression made her stop.

"Edward, it's nothing serious," she repeated, feeling almost as frightened by his face "It's going to pass in a few days."

Edward had no idea what to say. He had never dealt with a sick person. All he could do was sit and stare at Rose, as if expecting her to fall over again any time. Just like the Inventor. He hoped she wouldn't.

"Hey, stop it!" she uttered with a frown, making him blink and snap out of his stupor "Don't look at me like I'm going to pass out. I'm fine, okay? Just a little tired, but otherwise perfectly well."

Her words seemed to calm him a little, and he even managed to smile ever so slightly. She replied by smiling wider and poured some more of the delicious hot chocolate into the cup before once again helping him drink it.

"Is it Thursday?" Edward asked all of a sudden.

"Yes, it is," Rose grinned. An odd but pleasant sense of pride washed over her as she recalled their day-counting lessons. She felt the urge to pat his head and compliment him like a little boy, but decided against that.

"Then why are you here so early?" he asked again, innocently. Of course he'd appreciated it, but anything so out of place was throwing him off and making him confused. "Don't you have school on Thursdays?"

"Yes, I do. But I had to stay home today, because I'm sick."

"So people stay at home when they are sick?"

"Yes, usually they do. They should, so that the sickness would go away quicker."

"Why aren't _you_ home, then?"

Rose paused. "Well, I wanted to see you. It's been three days and I…" _'Missed you' _"And I thought it was the perfect opportunity."

"You should be at home," Edward said in a serious voice, as if he was scolding her, even though he had just learnt that piece of information.

She blinked, a small grin spreading on her face. He was too adorable sometimes. "I know," she surpassed a chuckle "But I _really_ wanted to see you."

It was meant to be a form of teasing, but his expression made her realize he had not yet learnt to tell apart seriousness from joking. Combined with the soft pink color the fever had caused, her face must've looked like it was on fire by then. It certainly felt like it.

"I wanted to see you too." Edward exclaimed honestly "I couldn't wait to talk to you again."

His words, expression and that constant staring made her feel somewhat uncomfortable under the bottomless pools that his eyes were. Whenever she realized the proximity between them had shrunk to just a few inches, she felt like she was suffocating. It was truly an annoying sensation that wasn't enjoyable or unpleasant. What was worse, her head just couldn't stop pounding.

"It'll be okay if I stay here just a while longer," Rose said, finally able to rip her gaze away from his. She looked down at the silver cup in her hands, her vision blurred slightly from exhaustion. "I have to be back before my parents return, but there's still some time. So…" after a short moment of hesitation, struggling between moving closer and moving away, she rested her aching head atop his leather-clad shoulder. "I'll stay here for now."

Edward froze upon the contact. The leather he was wearing did very little to block out the heat radiating from the side of her forehead. He sat still, gazing at the top of her head with wide eyes. A soft clunking noise made him blink; the silver cup slipped from between Rose's fingers and fell to the floor. She remained unmoving.

_The Inventor fell to the floor. A pair of hands followed him, hitting the ground and shattering into pieces._

"R-Rose?"

If Edward had known that the steady rise and fall of a human's chest and the even, deep breathing indicate sleep, he would not have panicked. But because he did not know any of this, he shivered in fright. Rose remained motionless, her head slipping an inch on his shoulder. She did not reply, either.

_He called him, confused. The man did not get up, he never got up again. His face lost all emotion and turned blank, eyes closed. Shattered pieces of Edward's hands laid scattered on the floor. They too never were put together._

"Rose!"

"Hmm,"

The giant wave of relief was like nothing he had ever felt. It hit him straight in the chest, leaving him breathless. She stirred, lifting her head slightly. He could see her eyes squeeze before eyelids fluttered up, revealing the deep, misty greenish-brown color.

"What is it?" her voice was a bit slurrish, but she cleared her throat and rubbed one eye with her fist "Did I fall asleep?"

"Rose!" he called her name again, and in the next second, Rose found herself engulfed in a tight hug. Finally woken up fully, she let out a short squeak as her face reddened. At first, she had no idea what had caused such reaction, but then she remembered.

_"So, you said you live alone here. Why?"_

_"The Inventor. He never woke up."_

"Oh," she let out as realization hit. "Edward, I didn't-"

He squeezed her in reply. She sighed and put her arms around him, palms rubbing his back in a comforting manner. He thought she was dead. _'How flattering,'_ she thought sarcastically despite herself _'I really must look horrible, to be mistaken for a dead person. God!'_

He pulled back soon, shame and uncertainty reflecting on his face. His scissors remained pointed to the ground, as were his eyes.

"Edward," she called out softly, putting her hand on his arm to make him look at her. He didn't. "Edward, I told you everything's okay. I was just tired… Sorry for frightening you."

He lifted his head at last. Rose's breath hitched.

"The Inventor… He…"

Rose gently pushed him back against the wall and sat down close to him. "I know." She said, slowly lowering her head to rest it atop his shoulder again "I know, don't worry. I was only sleeping."

Edward did not reply, but he felt relieved. She was sick, tired and apparently needed sleep. Besides, it was nice to feel the warm pressure on his shoulder. The two sat in silence as Rose's breath evened out again.

Edward did not notice when his head rested on top of hers, but it did at some point. He closed his eyes and took pleasure in having someone next to him. She shifted in her sleep and her hand landed on his arm. Edward's eyes snapped open as a shock ran through his body, followed by a wave of warmth. It was strange, but pleasant.

Edward slowly lowered his eyelids. Briefly, he wondered if he could bring Rose the same type of warmth had he had real hands. Then, he drifted into darkness.


	24. Edward's Christmas

_First, I apologize for the length between recent updates. School's tough, I have to do multiple things at once, leaving zero to n__one time for writing. Plus the end is very near, and I want everything to be just like I see it. I hope you'll forgive me and stay patient._

_Secondly, thank you very, very, VERY much:_

Kentcharm_, _Cybernetic Mango_, _Raine44354_, _ren-hatake_, _SeventhSister_ (I actually blushed at your comment! Wow!), _anonymous_, _TooMuchAtOnce_ (I can't get over your icon, haha), _Almost Winter_, _YumKiwiDelicious_, _CremeLover_ (you never disappoint! Super thanks!), _WanderingChild96_, _Batman-Luver_, _Kimmae_, _Love's Labour's Won_,_sassybutt32_, _My-Lover-Gren-Gren_, _LittleMissDee_ and _Miyux_._

_You are all __**wonderful**__!_

_Oh, and Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. _

_

* * *

_**Chapter Twenty-Four: Edward's Christmas**

Hours and minutes usually pass way longer than they should at school, but the worst were the days before school breaks. Like that Friday. Rose had spent the whole day looking out the window, tapping her pencil against the desk, doodling in her notebook or passing notes with Nina. Waiting for the last bell was a torture. Not only because it meant almost two weeks away from schoolwork and Christmas. Rose had an extra thing to be excited about.

Edward's Christmas present.

She had the whole thing in her head and thought it was the best thing she could give him. She grinned every time she thought about it and could not wait to see his expression.

"What are you grinning about?"

She turned to Nina. "How can you ask! It's almost Christmas break!"

"Not until after our two last classes." The blonde observed.

"Must you be so pessimistic? Where is your Christmas spirit?"

"In my other pants."

-

Right after returning home from school, Rose grabbed a black plastic bag from the kitchen and told her mother she would clean up her room and throw away the things she didn't need anymore. Ignoring Mrs. Wheeler's straight out shocked expression, she dashed upstairs, locking the door behind her.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God," she whispered to herself, searching through her drawers. "Where is it?" she moved to the other drawer and dumped its' contents on the floor. Nothing. "Where _is_ it?" she took out her underwear drawer and covered her carpet with bras and panties. "Where the hell is **it**?!"

A light knock on the door made her whirl around. Trevor entered the room, looking around with raised eyebrows.

"You're getting good at this whole cleaning thing, you know." He exclaimed, eyeing the mess.

"Shut up," Rose barked, returning to her search.

"You're looking for something?"

"What, you really thought I was cleaning?"

"You're so mean, dear sister." Trevor leaned against the doorframe. "And here I was ready to help you a little."

Rose froze. Slowly, she turned her head to glance at him through her shoulder.

"Were you possibly looking for _this_?" he held up a photo. Rose could only see the back of it, but it was enough to make her blood freeze.

"I have to admit," Trevor uttered. "You two look quite… adorable together in this photo."

"Trev," she began, but stopped. She twirled around and walked up to him, reaching out. "Where have you found it?"

"I wanted to borrow your book and found this inside."

"Can I… have it?"

"Sure." He gave it to her with a small smirk. "Don't get all flustered." And he walked out.

With her heart still, Rose flipped the photo. Partially, she wondered why Trevor hadn't asked any questions, but the answer hit her like a sack of bricks. She almost laughed out loud with relief.

The picture showed her and Jason when they were kids, in the middle of a ferocious one-on-one soccer match.

"Damn you, Trev," she whispered. She put the picture away and continued her search, less frantically.

-

An hour or so later, Rose emerged from her room. With the plastic bag filled and her backpack stuffed to the point she had trouble zipping it up, she made her way downstairs, trying to draw as little attention to herself as she could.

"Are you going somewhere?"

_'Shit.'_ Rose smiled at her mother. "Yes."

"Where?"

_'Tough one, but I am prepared, mother.' _"Shopping with Nina. She wants to find a dress for the party."

"How delightful!" as expected, the woman clasped her hands together. "You're going shopping without being dragged! I can see you've matured, Rose," she patted her daughter on the head. "This town did you some good, didn't it?"

"Oh yeah. Definitely," Rose couldn't help but grin a little. She lifted the black plastic bag. "I'll get rid of this and am on my way. I'll call if I stay out for too long."

She released the breath she was holding only when she turned around the corner, her perfect pastel house disappearing. The excitement boiling within her, she quickened her pace and headed towards the castle. The toughest part was still ahead.

Once she was at the top, she did not push the gate open and march right in, like she had always done. This time, she crouched behind an almost completely bare bush and positioned herself so that she would have a clear view of the front door, staying hidden at the same time. The wind was biting cold and made her shiver every few seconds, but she tried to ignore it. She hoped she wouldn't have to stay there for too long.

Just when Rose began to panic slightly and was about to come up with another plan, the front door opened and Edward walked out. He wandered around the front garden, trimming the bushes and looking for damage. He looked so focused and into it, it made Rose smile. Eventually, Edward turned and walked off in the direction of the back garden. Rose gathered the plastic bag and her backpack and shot out, running quietly to the door. She slipped inside and grinned to herself. _'One last thing left,'_ she thought, running up the stairs.

* * *

It was exceptionally cold that day. Heavy gray clouds hung overhead and the wind blew strongly every now and again, making the green sculptures sway and rustle. Edward snipped one last time, getting rid of a small twig that had grown in the wrong place on his emerald swan and left the garden. Rose had promised she'd come around evening and Edward did not want her to look for him around the mansion. He had always waited in the attic, so he would be there this time, too. And the cold was beginning to bother him.

He made his way up unhurriedly, not looking up until he reached his room. When he did, his breath was caught in his throat and eyes widened to the side of two coal black saucepans.

A Christmas tree.

A real, decorated with lights, chains and glass balls Christmas tree. Not as big as the one he had seen at the Boggs', it was around half the size, but it was far more beautiful. More colorful. Shining.

Edward staid unmoving for a few seconds, the colorful lights reflecting in his wide eyes. Then, he stepped forward, coming up to the tree. One of his blades touched a light blue glass ball, making it sway with a soft sound. He really could touch it. It really was _there_.

Rose watched his back closely ever since he appeared. He had not noticed her yet, instead being concentrated on the small Christmas tree she had decorated by herself minutes ago. She had made it just in time; the last glass ball was hung when she heard his footsteps. She took a deep breath and delicately cleared her throat, not wanting to startle him.

Instead of twirling around nervously or going rigid upon hearing her, Edward turned around slowly, his eyes shifting from the tree to her face. All of a sudden, she could not find and gather words to form a sentence that would remotely express what she was feeling at that moment. They stared at each other for some time, silent and unmoving. Then, Edward's gaze slid off of her and he surveyed the rest. Rose was standing next to a big wooden box which was set on the floor upside-down. On top of it there were two plastic plates with a cake in between, and two small lit up candles. Another lit up pair was on the fireplace. Looking around in pure awe in his eyes, Edward noticed something he had first missed; there was a small, rectangular box wrapped in dark blue paper lying under the tree. A present. For _him_.

"Merry Christmas, Edward," her voice was barely above whisper. His eyes returned to hers and she smiled warmly. "I hope you like your present."

"My… present?" he knew about the tradition of giving gifts. But the thought of actually getting a present from someone was beyond his imagination.

"When I asked you what would you like to get," Rose uttered, slowly walking over to him. "Remember what you've said?"

_"I'd like to…" he trailed off, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, then back "I'd like to have a normal Christmas. With… with you."_

Edward nodded, recalling.

"And I said -"

_"Okay then, if that's what you want, that's what you'll get."_

"So… Can we begin?" she motioned towards the box-table.

Edward could only nod as his voice still seemed to be missing. He couldn't even thank her yet. He followed her to the makeshift table (Rose later confessed that she had found the box somewhere in the back of the spacious hall) and sat down on the floor, carefully positioning his scissors thus making it look a bit awkward. Rose smiled a little and cut a slice of cake, putting in on his plastic plate. She couldn't stop looking at his amazed face as he kept looking around. The Christmas tree had captured his attention more than a few times, she noticed.

Sighing softly, she wondered if she had any idea how much all of this meant to him. It was impossible to imagine how someone feels in a similar situation after long, long years of solitude.

All the work, all the money and all the risk - it was all worth it, she decided.

She picked up her fork and, after making sure Edward would manage on his own, began to eat.

-

"Wanna open your present?"

Edward blinked, looking at Rose with wide eyes. "Um…"

"Come on," she urged, picking up the wrapped up box and placing it right under his nose. Her grin turned sheepish for a moment "It's nothing much, I had no idea what _could_ I give you, but still… I hope you'll like it."

"I love it."

It was her turn to blink. "But you didn't open it yet."

"It is a present for me. From you," he explained, making Rose shift a little. "So I love it."

"Well, aren't you curious what's inside?"

He realized he was, so he lifted his hand and very carefully used one of the sharpest blades to cut through the dark blue paper. Something silver flashed briefly, making his heart skip a beat. Soon, the paper was off and Edward stared at the content of the box.

A picture of himself and Rose framed in a plain but pretty silver frame fell into his lap. He stared at their smiling faces, at himself, with eyes wider than before, if that was possible. Speechless.

"I noticed how you were interested in the photos I have back home, so I thought you'd like one of y-you…" Rose explained in a bit rushed voice. "And me. I made it with the camera and told you it was a surprise, remember? I-I thought you'd like to have it…" she paused, swallowing hard. It seemed like Edward had not caught a word of her pathetic stuttering. Good.

"I remember." Oh wait, so maybe he had. "That strange flash… Have done this?"

Not really interested in explaining the basics of camera's work, Rose nodded. "Yeah." She said simply, afraid that she might jump into some more ridiculous babble if she kept going.

Seconds ticked by and turned to minutes, but Edward did not look up from the framed photo. Deep down, Rose knew it was because he liked it so much, but that didn't stop her from growing restless. _'What if he doesn't?'_

She would never guess how fast Edward could move. One second she was kneeling beside him, staring at his bowed head and the next she felt her body colliding with his as he threw his arms around her in a slightly clumsy hug. He squeezed her, but not too tightly, and staid silent. Her last coherent thought was _'God, he better not be crying!'_ before her mind shut down. She circled her arms around his middle and burrowed her head in his leather-clad shoulder.

The sun must have set, because the candles were shining more brightly than before.

-

_'He looks good in this light.'_

Rose rested her chin in her palm and stared as Edward finished another slice of cake, carefully licking the icing off his blades. The picture was set on the mantelpiece, right between the two glowing candles.

The sudden thought made her pause. _'He _does_ look good.'_ She realized somewhat with a start. Even though he was wearing the leather suit, had multiple scars all over his pale face and a hair that was beyond messy, Edward could be described as 'handsome'. She had no idea why it occurred to her just that moment; she had known how Edward looked for quite some time now, after all. As she sat there, gazing at him almost without blinking, another thing occurred to her.

She liked looking at him.

Edward finished cleaning up his blades and lifted his gaze, catching Rose's. She blinked and quickly shifted her eyes away, latching them on the photo.

"Thank you."

That forced her to look back at him. "You're welcome, Edward." She smiled brightly. "I'm glad you like your present."

He turned to look at the Christmas tree, a smile growing on his lips as well. "I do." Then he frowned suddenly. "But I don't have a present for you."

"Oh no, it's fine!" she protested immediately. "I had such a great time that we can say half of it was a present for me, too."

Edward's smile returned after hearing that. He got up from the floor and walked up to the fireplace. Rose watched as he raised his arm and touched the silver frame with his sharp finger. After a moment of hesitation, she got up and joined him.

"Now you will have something to remind you of the good things that had happened," she said in an almost whisper. "Not only the bad things."

Edward felt her warm hand on his shoulder and stiffened automatically before relaxing. He was not yet completely used to another human being's touch, but he was certainly growing accustomed to it. He turned his face to look at her and found that her eyes were on his the whole time. Something gripped his chest; he knew that expression… He had seen it once before.

"Merry Christmas, Edward."

He saw it as if in slow motion. Rose said those words before standing on her toes and leaning closer. She slid her eyes shut and the next thing he knew, her lips were in contact with his right cheek, a place not covered by scars.

The thing that had been gripping his chest seemed to explode within him, sending waves of heat in every direction in his body. It lasted no more than a second, but it felt much longer than that.

Rose took a step back, opening her eyes. Her face already began to grow red, but she smiled bravely.

"I have to go home now, but I'll come by the day after tomorrow." She zipped her warm jacket up and grabbed the backpack from the floor. "See you then,"

She was gone in the next 3 seconds.

Edward stood frozen to his spot, unable to move, talk or even breathe properly. He still felt warm all over. Only when he heard the front door being closed did he realize his mistake. He ran after her and tugged the door open. She was already on the other end of the gate, closing it.

"Rose!"

The girl stopped and looked back at the heavily breathing Edward. He inhaled some more air and shouted,

"Merry Christmas!"

Rose blinked, confused, before bursting into laughter. Her melodious laughter brought a small smile on his lips as he watched her run a hand through her hair.

"Thanks!" she shouted back and continued walking, her laugh dying down slowly. With a feeling of satisfaction, he closed the door and went upstairs.

* * *

She lied.

Well, not exactly, but what she had said to him was not truth. So yeah, she lied.

Rose stopped in front of the open gate, hugging herself. The idea had struck when she reached the foot of the hill, and so she did not go home, like she'd said she would. Instead, she chose a different route. She released a sigh before going in.

She had searched for it for more or less 15 minutes before she had found it. It was beautiful, maybe a bit messy, but it certainly seemed to be looked after.

The wind picked up as Rose stood over Kimberly Boggs' grave. She pushed her hair out of the way to read the date of birth and death. Kim died at age 83, peacefully, in her sleep. She was a daughter, a sister, a mother and grandmother. She had led a peaceful life. She had everything she needed.

_'And she didn't need Edward,'_ Rose mused bitterly, staring at the picture. It was taken when Kim was a young woman, around 25 to 30 years old. Long reddish blonde hair, kind eyes, a beautiful smile. _'How could he have mistaken me with her?'_ the girl thought, unconsciously playing with her own dark hair _'She's pretty.'_

Silent minutes passed and Rose did not move. She thought about everything Edward had told her about the Boggs and Kim, about the expression on his face when he had told her all that, about the normal life he had longed to live…

_'Why did you leave him, Kim?'_ She asked, even though she knew she would never get an answer. _'Why?'_


	25. Heartbeats

_First of all, I deeply apologize for the long wait. School's been hectic as hell recently, I've had prom things to take care of and stumbled upon a minor writer's block I couldn't get over. I really, really didn't want to keep you all waiting for so long, but alas, that's just what happened._

_Moving on._

JessicaDwyer, WanderingChild96_, _LittleMissDee_, _Kentcharm_, _LadyAmazon_, _JainaZekk621_, _The Non-Existing Person_, _SeventhSister_, _linalove_, _YumKiwiDelicious_, _Raine44354_, _Cybernetic Mango_, _Jen_, _TooMuchAtOnce_, _Miyux_, _Batman-Luver_, _Kimmae_, _IAmYourPhobia/Samantha_,_Marfuu_,_ AliceAddams13_, _RhiScissorhands_ and_ sassybutt32

_Thank you all so much! I will never, ever get over the fact that this story is getting so much positive feedback!_

_

* * *

_

**Chapter Twenty Five: Heartbeats**

The corners of light pink lips were pulled downwards and hands with nicely polished nails rested on her hips. Rose frowned at her reflection in the mirror after eyeing herself for the sixth time or so. Oh, she looked fine. With the dress that fitted every inch of the area it covered perfectly and in a color that suited her best, she really looked good. Her hair, washed, dried and combed already, was in a messy bun, waiting for her to decide what to do with it. The semi-comfortable two inch heels on her feet made her stand taller and straight. A cloud of delicate perfume hung over her head as she applied the last bit of lip gloss and turned away from the mirror to look for something, the final touch. She found it and faced the mirror again. After a second, the glittering silver rose hung a little below her collar bone.

The only thing left was to take care of the hair.

At first, she wanted to keep it up. Then, her mother suggested curling it, but Rose declined. After looking at herself with a thoughtful expression, she reached up and undid the clasp. Her hair spilled over her shoulders. She ran a comb over it a few times and nodded. She liked having it up and out of her face, but tonight, she could deal with it being loose.

…Not because Edward had said he liked it that way better. Well, maybe a _little_ because of that. But not too much.

Rose spared herself one last glance before taking her warm coat and a scarf from the closet and opened the door to her room, just as the doorbell rang from below.

"I'll get it!" Trevor called out from somewhere near the kitchen. He too was going to the party, but it had taken more or less half an hour to get ready. Since he had a driver's license and the parents' approval and car, he was to take Rose and her friend to Adam's house.

Rose was halfway down when she heard the door being open.

"Hi," Nina's slightly out-of-breath voice rang from the entrance. "Is Rose ready?"

Rose stopped midway when she heard, or rather didn't hear her brother's reply. Not because he spoke so quietly. He didn't speak at all.

_'Oh, no.'_

She was downstairs in the next second and saw Trevor's back, his hand still on the doorknob, blocking Nina from her view.

"Trev," Rose said exasperatedly. "Move your ass aside and let her in,"

He turned to throw his sister a glare and finally moved, gesturing the blonde to come in. She smiled and entered. Rose grinned. Her friend looked great; beneath the unzipped grey coat she had on, she wore a tight-fitting, off the shoulder white shirt and a flowing ankle-length red skirt with a slit on the side. She had a little red flower behind her ear, the color almost matching the hue of her cheeks. The shade deepened and her eyes narrowed as Rose whistled playfully.

"You look like Christmas spirit," she commented with a smirk.

"I'm surprised you don't look like a _rose_ this time," Nina did a mock sniff. "And you don't smell like one, too! How surprising."

Rose's smirk turned into a scowl as Trevor laughed. "Funny. The floral theme belongs to you tonight, it seems," she eyed the red flower in Nina's hair.

The blonde crossed her arms. "Oh, don't be bitchy because you're out of your element. If you want, I can give it to you."

Rose couldn't hold it inside anymore. She burst into laughter, joining Trev's chuckles and making Nina smile before she too started to laugh. They calmed down after a moment and Nina's eyes focused on Rose's older brother. The color on her cheeks deepened.

"Trev, this is Nina, my chemistry partner and friend," Rose introduced "Nina, this is my older brother, Trevor."

"Nice to meet you," the blonde uttered, outstretching her hand. In the same time, Trevor reached out and said, "A pleasure,". He grasped her hand and for a second held it still before shaking it slightly.

Rose was sure that, if only she hadn't been in the hall with them, her brother would have kissed Nina's hand in a very charming manner.

"Well, shall we?" the young man opened the door and gestured for them to exit. His eyes on Nina's, he smiled attractively. "Ladies first,"

The girl grinned and blushed slightly before exiting the house. With a similar but smaller grin on her face, Rose followed, but had to stop suddenly as her brother ignored her and walked out first, nearly making her walk into him. She rolled her eyes as Trevor played the gentleman she knew he was certainly not. He opened the car door for Nina first before sliding onto the driver's seat. He started the engine and turned to Rose.

"You coming along or what?"

Forcing the smile away, she made her way to the car and got in, trying not to look at her friend or brother. Instead, she focused on the small droplets that began falling from the sky.

* * *

It was raining fiercely by the time the car stopped in front of Adam's brightly decorated house. It was surrounded by different cars, indicating that most of the guests were already there. The curtains inside were drawn, but the blaring music could be heard even from the car. Rose took an umbrella from underneath the back seat and handed it to Trevor before getting out and immediately tugging her hood over her head. She walked briskly towards the front door, wincing with every step. She wished she'd simply put on different, more comfortable shoes. Too late for that.

With Trev and Nina right behind her, Rose raised her fist to bang on the perfectly white, covered with Christmas-themed decorations door - nobody would have heard her otherwise, the music was on the deafening level, and they weren't even inside - when they opened and her fist landed on a chest instead.

Jason blinked before his face broke off with a smile. "Hey," he greeted, nodding at Trevor and, hesitantly, at Nina. "Come on in,"

Rose walked in and slid off the coat, hanging it on one of the very few empty hangers in the hall. Her brother and Nina did the same and vanished right after among the crowd of dancing people. They didn't even look back at her. Frowning at their behavior and the really loud music, Rose turned to try and follow them, when Jason grabbed her forearm before she could walk away.

"You look…" he began. "Well, I can't remember seeing you in a dress before."

"You did, once." She had to smile at the memory. "I agreed on wearing one just because it was easier to carry all your cars from the sandpit to our race track, in the skirt."

He laughed, remembering. "Oh yeah. It was covered in dirt and sand afterwards. Your mother was furious."

"Hmm," she hummed in return, looking around. Oh yes, there was the food table, and a counter with drinks. She'd like to be there. "Hey, I'm going to -"

"Okay, let's go," Jason grabbed her wrist to not get separated in the dancing crowd and made his way towards the spot she'd been eyeing. Rose let him drag her along, briefly wondering, how? _'He used to be my best friend,'_ she mused, finding it hard to concentrate as they approached the source of the blaring music. _'He still can read me well…'_

After a few drinks and a surprisingly pleasant talk with Jason, Rose found herself relaxing more and more. She spotted a group of girls from her class, a group she liked and talked with on more than one occasion, and decided to join them as a particularly fast song began to play. Time passed much faster than she had first thought and - after finding herself oppositely to Jason after a good deal of songs - blinked upon discovering that she had actually enjoyed herself so far. She had danced with almost all of Jason's friends before she spotted Nina. The blonde was with some guy Rose couldn't recognize, but she _did_ know the _other_ guy, who had butted in between them and gracefully swept the startled-looking Nina away. Trevor twirled the girl once before disappearing from Rose's sight.

She reached the table with drinks with a smile. _'My brother and my friend,' _she mused, sipping on the Coke. _'How very cliché.'_

All of a sudden, someone materialized at her side. She turned to look at the person and discovered a guy she hadn't known personally, but who was somewhat of a legend among the students in high school. She was pretty sure his name started with a K…

"Hi," the boy smiled. "I'm Cal."

Oh yeah, Cal. "Hello." she figured that, if he had approached her so directly, he must've known her name already. After all, a trophy-hunter like him always does a small reconnaissance.

"You're Rose, yeah? Trev's sister?"

Rose smiled pleasantly. Being right was fun. "Yes, I am. And you're the infamous girl-hunter." Being surrounded by so many people gave her courage, it seemed.

He laughed. "I see my reputation precedes me," he took a glass of Coke and mixed it with some alcohol. "No worries, though. Out of respect for Trev, I won't go for his little sister."

How very polite of him. Too bad Rose knew very well that Cal and Trevor were rivals on more than one field. She smirked wryly at the thought of her older brother gaining a mortal enemy in such a short time after they had moved in.

"That's reassuring," she replied after a moment and finished her drink. If that Cal thought she would leave her half-full glass for him to spike it, then he was an even bigger idiot than she had thought. Without another word, she returned to the dance floor.

Minutes turned to hours and Rose grew exhausted. She briefly considered going upstairs to find a place to rest, but quickly turned the option down as a slightly drunk pair passed her on the stairs, heading straight towards Andy's parents' bedroom. She would've sat down on the stairs, but didn't want anybody to tumble over her, so that left option three: the bathroom.

The volume of the music gave her a headache which was growing steadily. Rose knocked on the bathroom door and opened it after receiving no answer. She stepped out immediately upon seeing a person kneeling before the toilet. On her way back to the living room, she bumped into a person. Looking up to apologize or at least see who it was, she froze. The person was wearing black from head to toe and had spiky jet black hair.

_'Edward…?' _

Rose blinked. The guy she walked into grumbled for her to watch where she was going and, after giving her a strange glance, walked away. She remained in the hallway, staring at him. For a second there, when she looked up…

"Having fun?"

Rose flinched before turning to look at the person who spoke. Cal. Great. "The time of my life," she uttered and tried to walk past him. She felt him follow at first, but then he was gone as Trevor appeared, carrying two drinks.

"Are you wasted?" Trev asked bluntly, taking in her odd expression and reddened cheeks.

"Thoroughly." Was her sarcastic reply.

"Judging from your good mood, the rumors are true, then."

"What rumors?" God, did these people never shut up?

"That you're Cal's new target."

Apparently not. Talking about other people's business was the number one hobby in this particular town and Rose was sure she would never get used to it.

Trevor eyed his sister seriously. "Listen, I'd rather not have you near him, so stay out of trouble, okay?"

Rose huffed. "Believe me, I'd rather be-" a pause, a light bulb turning on in her head. "Somewhere else…"

"Good. If he keeps bugging you, just find me."

The girl smiled at her brother and received a playful smirk in return before he dove into the crowd again, presumably looking for a certain blonde-haired, white-and-red-wearing friend of Rose's. Her smile widened.

Both because of the fact that her brother had cared for her that much… and because of the genius plan that had formed in her head.

* * *

"Leaving so soon?"

Slurred speech in a male voice is not a good sign. In fact, it is a very, very bad sign. Rose froze for a short while before putting her coat on. She would try and ignore the owner of the voice, and then maybe…

"Not having much fun, are you?"

_'Ignore that one, too.'_ She told herself mentally, still not looking up from her coat zipper.

"I guess all Wheelers are arrogant pricks," Cal stopped right in front of her, making it even harder to ignore his presence. "I thought you'd be more… open."

"I thought you'd be a moron," she snapped finally. "And I wasn't mistaken."

_'Oh, fuck. I really shouldn't have had listened to stupid Jason and try stupid alcohol, and now lose my stupid temper…'_ The damage was done, however. Cal's face didn't change and the smile was still on as he reached out and grasped her wrist. He pulled her closer.

"I'm already fed up with your brother, and I'm dangerously close to being fed up with you, too." His breath smelled faintly of whisky as his eyes bore into her wide ones. "So I suggest being nicer than your asshole of a brother, or else you'll-"

"Is there a problem?" Jason appeared at her side seemingly out of nowhere, his eyes fixed on Cal.

"Not at all, Carter," Cal released Rose's wrist, his smile not wavering. "I was just asking Rose why was she cutting the fun short."

Surprised, Jason faced his friend, but then brought his attention back to the intoxicated older boy. "What, does she need to have excuses for you? If she feels like going, then she goes."

The smile slid off Cal's face as he glared at Jason. "Oh, so you're all of a sudden _not interested_?"

"Fuck you."

"Guys, stop." Rose's head felt like it would explode any minute, and their pointless quarrels weren't helping.

"Right, you're not worth shit, Carter," Cal slurred out, the arrogant smirk back in place. "Leavin' you two alone."

Rose released a sigh as he finally was gone and finished dressing. Suddenly aware of the silence from Jason's end, she turned her head to look at him through her shoulder. He was watching her.

"So, you're really leaving?" he asked.

"I don't feel too good." _'I'd rather be in that lovely, quiet, isolated, dark - and did I mention quiet? - place up the hill.'_ "Thanks." She added as an afterthought.

Jason smiled. "People said he was getting too close to you, I had to have my eyes open just in case."

"I feel like I'm 8 again."

A small, but genuine laugh drowned in the music, but she could still hear it. "Hey, I promised to be around and keep you safe, didn't I?" his expression sobered as he looked down, not meeting her eyes. "I'm sorry."

She didn't have to ask. Instead, Rose faced him and, although she was growing hot beneath the winter cloak, she hugged him. Her smile widened as she felt him hugging back and soon broke the embrace.

"Well, I better go." She said.

Jason nodded. "Yeah. See you soon?"

"Definitely."

* * *

The rain was pouring hard, but Rose kept running at full speed, the hood secured above her head yet the raindrops hitting her face like ice needles. She shook her head from time to time to get rid of the water that blurred her vision and ran, ran, ran as fast as she could. She truly had had fun at the party, honestly. She had a chance to dance and talk, eat and drink, but still…

_'I'd rather be in tha__t lovely, quiet, isolated, dark place up the hill.'_

She crossed the last street and soon found herself on the narrow lane that led to the mansion. Due to the rain pebbles that covered the way were slippery and she had to almost crawl at first, but regained speed in no time. Her heard beating rapidly, she finally arrived in front of the iron gate that screeched every time she'd opened it. She had always thought it sounded rather creepy, but now it was far more pleasurable to her ears than the booming sounds that filled Adam's house at the moment.

Her heart was beating so loudly that she could hear it clearly. From the run, no doubt. The beating of her heart matched every step she took and, for some reason, the closer she was to her destination, the heavier it seemed.

As she faced the iron bars of the entrance gate, it ached.

She pushed the gate with force and ran through it, finally coming to a stop before the front door.

_'I'd rather be in that quiet, isolated, dark place up the hill.'_

_'With Edward.'_

The door, as old as the gate, also made a strange noise as Rose pushed them open.

-

Out of all kinds of weather he had encountered throughout the years, rain was something Edward disliked the most. It made him huddle in one corner, as far away from the hole in the roof as possible. It was liquid, so nothing could be made out of it. It was cold, therefore unpleasant. The raindrops looked like tears.

He pressed his knees closer to his chest and cast a long glance towards the fireplace. His collection of hand photos seemed dull and faded into the grey background in comparison to the gleaming silver frame and the colorful picture in it. On it's own accord, the corners of his lips tugged upwards and he did that funny thing Rose called 'smiling'. The memory of her doing that made his own unconscious smile widen.

It was raining so heavily that he didn't hear the door closing downstairs. He also missed the sound of slippery footsteps on the stone stairs. Only when Rose stepped out of the shadows surrounding the entrance did he look in her direction.

The heavy, wet coat fell to the floor and pooled at her feet. Her hair clung to her face and neck and the slight amount of eyeliner that she had used was now smudged around the corner of her eyes. Her heels were covered in mud, as was the hem of her dress and she was shaking uncontrollably. Two raindrops rolled down her cheeks, like tears.

Edward was speechless. He stared at the girl, took in the shape she was in, and slowly forced himself up. Meanwhile, she took a shaky step forward, towards him.

"R-Rose?" Edward called out, rooted to the corner.

Instead of replying, Rose walked up to him and, her body shaking from the cold, stopped a few inches away from him. As if she'd wanted to do something, but suddenly lost the courage.

However, Edward was able to learn from his past mistakes. He'd seen that particular look Rose had on at that moment more than on one occasion and was almost sure what was supposed to be done. The soft, barely audible whisper of _"Hug me"_ came from within his head and, for the first time, the voice did not belong to the girl he once knew and lost. The voice in his head sounded like Rose's.

Pushing all questions and thoughts aside, he shortened the space between them and gently, almost shyly, pulled her closer, his arms circling around her body, blades positioned away and pointing upwards.

With her forehead pressed against his shoulder, Rose lifted her arms and returned the hug immediately. The leather felt chilly beneath her fingers, but none of that bothered her. Her eyes closed and she shifted slightly in the embrace, putting her head against his chest. Her rapid heartbeat drummed in her ears.

Rose's eyes snapped open.

She was not mistaken. She could hear _two_ sets of heartbeats. Involuntarily, she pressed herself closer, overwhelmed by the discovery.

In a nearly perfect harmony, two hearts echoed in her ears.

Rose could feel her legs going weak, so she clung to Edward to stay on her feet. In turn, he held her more firmly. She didn't know why exactly that new piece of information shocked her so much. She knew Edward was not a regular human being, but the thought of him actually having a heart… Everything swirled in her head. It was a strange sensation, like she was drowning in the flood of everything. Very gently, she lifted her head to look at him.

Coal black eyes met light hazel ones as they stared at each other.

Two heartbeats later, Rose leaned in and kissed him.

After another two drums against her ribcage, she felt him kissing back, shyly and carefully. The drumming increased in speed.

Neither of them noticed that the raindrops were replaced by pure white snowflakes.

* * *

**A**: _The Epilogue will be up way sooner than this chapter, I promise!_


	26. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

She had a smile on her face long before her eyes opened.

Rose laid in her bed, staring at her ceiling. She was still only half-awake, so she couldn't name the source of her happiness; instead, she just stretched and yawned, preparing herself to get up. She turned her head to look out the window and her smile grew as she saw that it was snowing, even though the sun was peeking out, making the white world outside glitter. Rose's lips formed a grin as she suddenly jumped out of bed. She got dressed and combed her hair, ignoring her hairclip and hair band.

As Rose headed towards the kitchen, the events of the day before were circling around her mind. She had kissed Edward. Not on the cheek or anything, but on the lips. And he… He kissed back.

_Rose broke the kiss a few moments later, leaning back and opening her eyes. Edward's bottomless black orbs met hers and the swirl of emotions she saw behind them made her face flush a deep red color._

_She felt his arms squeeze around her, a blade sunk in her hair harmlessly._

_"Don't leave," he breathed out quietly._

"What are you doing up?"

Rose nearly let go of the glass she's been holding. "Trevor!" she hissed. "Can you not sneak up on me like that?"

Her older brother raised an eyebrow before running his hand through his messy hair. "I didn't sneak up on you. You're just jumpy today."

She sighed, forcing the smile away. "I'm just… tired."

"Carter said you left early."

She poured some apple juice into the glass, not looking at him. "Yeah, I've had enough." She raised the glass to her lips to take a sip.

"You sure you went _straight home_?"

Rose choked on the juice, struggling to not spit it out. "Jesus, Trev! Where else could I go?" she took a breath that made her cough a little. To be safe, she set the glass down on the counter. "After all, _Nina_ was with you all the time, wasn't she?"

It was his turn to be caught off guard. "Well, we had fun," he shrugged innocently before a teasing smile appeared on his face. "Besides, can you blame her for wanting to spend every minute in my presence?"

Rose rolled her eyes, but chose not to comment. She finished her glass in peace and turned to walk out of the kitchen.

"I'm seeing her."

She stopped in the doorway, her wide eyes set on Trevor. "What?"

"I mean," he corrected himself. "I'll be seeing her later today."

"That's…" Rose smiled unsurely. She wasn't used to her brother announcing the time of his dates, he usually didn't share those kind of information with anyone within their family. It felt rather… nice. "That's great, Trev. Have fun."

He looked back at her and smiled. "Thanks."

Rose was halfway upstairs, when the door opposite Trevor's opened with a bang and her younger brother, Denis, appeared in her way.

"Rose!" he called, jumping from obvious excitement. "Rose! You have to see this!"

"See wha-" she was caught by the wrist and dragged behind the boy to his room. Denis pulled her up to the window and pointed at it. "Look, look!" he pressed, tapping the glass surface. "Isn't it awesome?!"

Her brows furrowed in confusion, Rose took a peek outside. The view from Denis' window, just like hers, was of their garden. There were some trees and bushes there, but at present, everything was bare and white.

Something caught her eye. The faint rays of sunlight made it gleam in various colors. She looked closely and gasped.

_"Don't leave," he breathed out quietly._

_"I won't," she said, resting her hands on his shoulders. "I promise I'll be here for as long as possible."_

_"Promise…" Edward uttered quietly, his glazed eyes never leaving hers. Then, slowly, a genuine smile stretched his lips._

In the very middle of their garden, there was a sculpture made of ice. That alone was enough to make her eyes widen, but the gasp came when she recognized the shape of the ice statue.

It was a rose.

"Ha! Told you it's great!" Denis stared at the glittering rose outside with enthusiasm. "It's so beautiful! Who do you think made it?" he looked at his sister, then blinked as he saw her staring at the sculpture with wide eyes. Then, gradually, her eyes went back to their normal size and a delicate smile lit her face up. Denis noted with surprise that she also blushed a little.

"Huh? Rose?"

"I…" that small smile of hers grew bigger. "I'm… Sorry, Denis, but I've got to go somewhere."

"Hey, wait-!"

She was out of the room before he could say anything else.

-

"Rose, honey," Mrs. Wheeler said as she saw her daughter putting on her boots. "What are you doing up so early?"

The girl finished tying the laces and got up to grab the coat. "I'm just going out for a moment," she replied before turning to look at her mother. The woman almost stepped back in shock as she saw the teenager beam. "I'll be back soon!"

Mrs. Wheeler remained frozen even after the door behind Rose closed shut.

-

She was running again, but this time, she was completely at peace.

Rose reached the hill and began to climb up. The grin that had been attached to her face was still there, along with the steadily increasing heartbeats. She had to pause for a moment near the top to catch her breath, and looked down at the small area of Suburbia. Her eyes fell on the graveyard, which was as white as everything around.

_'Our story,'_ she thought as she readied herself to continue running up. _'Will be __different__.'_

She could not wait to see Edward again.

**END**

* * *

Thank you all for the most amazing, encouraging and heart-warming reviews and messages! As I've stated before, I have never expected so much positive feedback on this story, so you can only imagine how I felt while getting that amount of reviews from you. All the Favorite/Alert thing, yeah, that was pretty stunning, too.

I could never ask for better Readers.

Also, as usual; for reviewing the last chapter, I'd like to thank the following:

Linalove, C. Holywell-Black, Raine44354, SeventhSister, Haeronwen, My-Lover-Gren-Gren, IAmYourPhobia, Batman-Luver, Cybernetic Mango, YumKiwiDelicious, The Non-Existing Person, Hachi, WanderingChild96, sassybutt32, JainaZekk621, LittleMissDee and xXxPhoenixXxRisingxXx.

**Thank you for reading.**


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